Rahul to address rally in Gujarat on 11 March

Ahmedabad: As a part of the party's campaigning for the 2014 general elections, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally on 11 March at Balasinor town of Kheda district in Gujarat.

"Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will address an election rally at Balasinor on March 11," Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Arjun Modhvadiya announced here today.

Rahul Gandhi. PTI

"The Congress party will begin its state-wide campaign against the BJP government's corruption from 4 March to 11 March by organising a padyatra in all the 26 constituencies," Modhvadia said.

"On the last day, Rahul Gandhi will address the people about the achievements of the UPA government and welfare schemes introduced during two terms," he said.

"Congress will make people aware about the Centre's welfare initiatives like the Right to Food, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREGA), Right to Information and the Forest Rights Act," he said.

"During the one week padyatra programme in all the 26 constituencies, the Congress will approach people from both rural and urban areas to expose the BJP's corruption to them," the party leader said.

The Congress would also hold a public awareness campaign against former MLAs who quit the party to join BJP.

"Prior to that, on 2 March, Congress party leaders and workers will visit the Abdasa and Mandvi assembly seats of the Gujarat assembly to expose MLAs who switched over to the BJP," party spokesperson Manish Doshi said.

"We will inform the masses that leaders who betray the party are betraying the people," Doshi said.

On 24 February, Chhabil Patel from Abdasa assembly seat of Kutch district and Prabhu Vasava from the Mandvi assembly seat of Surat district submitted their resignation to Gujarat assembly speaker Vaju Vala.

Patel is a two-time Congress MLA, though his political career began with the BJP, which he had left 18 years ago.

However, Vasava, who was president of the Surat district Congress unit, had no prior links to the BJP.

Earlier, three other Congress MLAs had resigned and joined BJP, namely MLA Rajendrasinh Chavda from Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district and MLA Jasa Barad from Somnath in Junagadh district, besides MLA Bavku Undhad from Lathi, who submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker in the last week of January.

Totally, five MLAs resigned and joined the BJP in the last one month.

PTI