Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi hit the campaign trail in the Patidar-dominated areas of poll-bound Gujarat with an eye on the support of the influential Patel community. He urged NSUI members, the student wing of the party to work hard to bring the party to power in the state.
Taking a dig at BJP government, he said if the Congress was voted to power, they would function from Gujarat and not on orders from Delhi.
Gandhi is on the second day of his three-day visit to Gujarat. He will visit several villages and towns including Dhrol and Tankara. These places have a considerable Patel population. Congress is hoping to get the support of this crucial vote bank during the polls due this year.
On Monday, Gandhi was greeted by Hardik Patel, leader of the Patel quota demonstration. “A warm welcome to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat,” Patel tweeted in Hindi on Monday. Earlier, Patel had hinted that he may consider supporting Congress to attain the objective of reservation to the Patel community.
Gandhi attacked PM Modi over issues such as note ban, goods and services tax (GST), farm policies and ‘Gujarat model’ of development during the first day of his visit. He also expressed confidence about winning the upcoming Assembly polls.
