Priyanka to lead in urban areas, Rahul & Kharge to focus on tribal, Dalit voters in poll-bound MP

Bhopal, July 20 (IANS) In the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will lead the party's poll campaign in urban areas, Rahul Gandhi will focus on the tribal areas, and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge will concentrate on Dalit voters, a senior party leader told IANS.

The Congress leader informed that Rahul Gandhi will address his maiden poll rally in Shahdol in August. Party leaders said the date for Rahul Gandhi and Kharge rallies are yet to be finalised, however, the two are scheduled to visit the poll-bound state next month.

Priyanka Gandhi, kick-started the party's campaign during her visit to Jabalpur in June. She is scheduled to address a mega poll rally in Gwalior on July 21, the bastion of the Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose rebellion had toppled the party's state government in 2020. She would be the first Gandhi family member to address a rally at Mela Ground in Gwalior after the coup.

The Assembly elections slated for November-December are the first for the Congress since the scion of the erstwhile Scindia royal family rebelled and left with 22 MLAs, including ministers, forcing the then Congress Chief Minister Kamal Nath to resign from office. Priyanka Gandhi's rally is expected to energise the party cadres in 30 Assembly segments across seven districts.

Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh alongwith Congress' state in-charge J. P. Aggarwal have prepared an elaborate plan for Priyanka Gandhi's rally in Gwalior. Sources in the Congress said the party is planning to promise monetary incentives to the unemployed youth in MP, which Priyanka is likely to announce during her Gwalior rally.

In her first rally in Jabalpur in June, Priyanka Gandhi had announced five poll promises -- introduction of the old pension scheme, farm loan waiver, 100 units of electricity free and 200 units at half the tariff, Rs 1,500 pension for women and LPG cylinder at  Rs 500.