Nagpur: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will be travelling to the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on a two-day visit on July 28.
“The Congress vice president will reach Jagdalpur district headquarters of Bastar on July 28. He will spend a night in Jagdalpur and meet party workers and leaders from the region. On July 29, he will address a workshop of party workers. He will also address a rally in Jagdalpur on July 29 before concluding his trip,” Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson Bhujit Doshi told The Hindu .
Mr. Gandhi was earlier slated to address a rally in Nagarnar of Bastar. However, the rally’s venue was reportedly changed due to security reasons.
The Congress vice president’s visit to this restive region will have the security agencies on their toes as it is happening during the Martyrs’ week celebrated by the Maoists’ between July 28 and August 4.
However, Bastar range Inspector General of Police Vivekananda Sinha said foolproof security arrangements have been made for the visit. “There is no change in his venue. We have made the security arrangements as per the schedule given (by the Congress). Four-tier security has been made for Mr. Gandhi’s visit.”
The visit assumes significance as Chhattisgarh goes to elections next year. The ruling BJP has already got into election mode with Chief Minister Raman Singh's state-wide tours and BJP national president Amit Shah’s recent three-day trip to the State.
This is the first visit to Bastar by any senior Congress leader after the party’s senior leaders, including former minister V.C. Shukla, were killed by Maoists in 2013, 40 kilometres from Jagdalpur.
