Congress president Rahul Gandhi will launch his party’s election campaign for the Assembly polls in Rajasthan with a day-long visit to Jaipur on Saturday.
Mr. Gandhi will stage a roadshow on a 12-km-long route from the Sanganer airport here and address a meeting of party leaders and workers at Ramlila Maidan in the city.
Preparations were in full swing here on Friday for the visit. The Special Protection Group and the city police have cleared the route after an initial confusion over the selection of arterial roads. Mr. Gandhi will travel to the venue in a specially designed bus from which he will greet the people, while his supporters will follow him in other vehicles.
The party workers will welcome Mr. Gandhi at 14 points during the roadshow. Though the Pradesh Congress Committee has refrained from announcing Mr. Gandhi’s visit to any temple, he may go to the famous Govind Dev temple, a popular pilgrim centre located in the City Palace Complex here.
Poll strategy
PCC president Sachin Pilot, accompanied by AICC General Secretaries Ashok Gehlot and Avinash Pande, visited the Ramlila Maidan to look after the arrangements. Mr. Pilot said this would be Mr. Gandhi’s first visit to Rajasthan after becoming the party president and he would discuss with the workers the party’s road map and strategy for elections.
Mr. Gandhi’s roadshow has been planned to counter the ongoing ‘Gaurav Yatra’ of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, which was flagged off on August 4.
