Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to begin election campaign in poll-bound states

In view of the upcoming Assembly elections in five states - Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram - Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will start the campaign next week after the culmination of the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, sources in the party said. Kharge will be addressing rallies in the poll-bound states which are going to the poll at the end of this year, sources added. The Congress leader will kick start the campaign from Chhattisgarh’s Raipur, where he will address the rally on August 13 just two days after the conclusion of the 23-day-long Parliament’s Monsoon session, according to top sources of the Congress party. The Congress chief’s other rallies planned are as follows: August 18 in Telangana, August 22 in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal and August 23 in Rajasthan’s Jaipur. It is pertinent to note that as part of the Congress party’s election efforts, Kharge, the reinstated MP Rahul Gandhi, and the party’s general secretary KC Venugopal are meeting leaders from states at the party’s national headquarters in Delhi to discuss the preparations, campaign and strategy for the upcoming Assembly polls and next year’s Lok Sabha polls. Till now the Central leaders have met leaders from more than 20 states, including from the poll-bound states, to convey a message of seriousness and timely intervention of Central leadership for the better and smooth planning of elections, a senior Congress leader said. The source further added that along with Kharge, Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also be doing an aggressive campaign in these states.