Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will begin campaigning in the September first week and will also participate in four yatras, similar to the one he had undertaken in Uttar Pradesh, reported Indian Express.
Whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart BJP's campaign on September 17, his 67th birthday, with a public meeting at Dabhoi, Vadodara district after inaugurating newly constructed gates of Narmada dam.
Amit Shah appointed finance minister Arun Jaitley as election in-charge for Gujarat polls and Congress is likely to station All India Congress Committee secretary Prakash Joshi, who was in charge of Uttar Pradesh, in Gandhinagar, to monitor the poll-related activities.
Newly appointed AICC secretaries — Rajeev Satav, Varsha Gaikwad, Harshvardhan Sapkal and Jitu Patwari — will oversee the poll campaign in four different zones of the state.
Rahul will arrive in Ahmedabad on September 4. Before he kicks off the campaign, he will address a meeting of the party's elected representatives from district and taluka panchayats. The party has narrowed down on three issues -- unemployment, corruption (based on CAG reports) and agrarian distress, to target the ruling BJP government led by chief minister Vijay Rupani.
BJP, which is traditionally known for not announcing a party face at state level before the election results, has clarified that there will be no change in the chief minister post and Vijay Rupani will be its face during the poll battle.
Rahul Gandhi will begin yatra from Dwarka in Saurashtra region, which is considered a BJP stronghold, while in Central Gujarat, he will start his yatra from Dakor. The state leaders will be joining him in all the four yatras. The 47-year-old leader aims to cover about 50 to 60 assembly segments in 12-15 days, according to reports.
Although the saffron party lost a Rajya Sabha seat to senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, they are optimistic about Congress' internal strife. Also, there are speculations that Mahendrasinh Vaghela, son of senior leader Shankersinh Vaghela, will also be joining BJP.
Of the 182 assembly constituencies, the ruling party holds power in 120 segments presently, while the opposition Congress has retained 43 seats post 2012 polls.
"The biggest problem the youth in the state is facing today is unemployment," said Bharatsinh Solanki, state Congress president, as quoted by Indian Express. He further stated that if Congress is voted to power, they would provide a monthly allowance of Rs 4,000 to unemployed post-graduates, Rs 3500 to unemployed undergraduates and Rs 3,000 to 12th pass students.
He also alleged that there was a lot of infighting among various groups in BJP which in turn is affecting the governance.
