Congress announces a jumbo team of poll observers for Gujarat Assembly election

Former party chief Rahul Gandhi to campaign in Gujarat, he will either attend rallies on rest days of Bharat Jodo Yatra or address digital rallies

Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot with party leaders released the party manifesto for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections in Ahmedabad on November 12. | Photo Credit: PTI

Barely two weeks before the first phase of voting in Gujarat, the Congress on Monday announced a massive team of poll observers to supervise the party’s campaign in the State.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) divided the State into different zones and appointed an observer for each of the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State. Elections for the 182-member State Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 and counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

A statement from AICC general-secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal stated that Mukul Wasnik will be the party observer for the south zone headquartered in Surat while Mohan Prakash will oversee the polls in Saurashtra zone and will be headquartered at Rajkot.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan will be stationed at Baroda to oversee the campaign in the central region while party leaders B.K. Hariprasad and K.H. Muniyappa will look after the north zone, with Ahmedabad as the headquarters.

The AICC also appointed leaders Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Rajesh Lilothia and Jai Kishan as general observers while Shivaji Rao Moge is an observer for south Gujarat and Kantilal Bhuria has been assigned central Gujarat.

The appointment of observers come amid criticism that the Congress is hardly visible in its Gujarat campaign when compared to new comer Aam Admi Party (AAP) that has run an aggressive campaign to take on the 27-year-old rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the State.

Sources in the Congress said former party chief Rahul Gandhi is likely to campaign for the poll. His extensive campaigning in the 2017 Assembly election helped the party reach a tally of 77 seats. Plans are still being worked out if Mr. Gandhi would attend physical rallies on the rest days of the Bharat Jodo Yatra or address digital rallies.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge presided over a review meeting of the Bharat Jodo Yatra at the party’s war room at 15, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road. The meeting included senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala, Digvijaya Singh, Sachin Pilot besides Mr. Venugopal.