Rahul Gandhi visits southern Rajasthan to reach out to tribals; Congress claims traditional voter base will return to party fold

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday visited poll-bound Rajasthan where he was scheduled to meet party workers and address a public gathering in the Dungarpur district. His visit to the poll-bound state comes a few days after he held a roadshow in Madhya Pradesh. This is also Rahul's second visit to Rajasthan since his roadshow in Jaipur on 11 August.

Pratibha Raghwanshi, the National General Secretary of the Indian Youth Congress, tweeted that Rahul was to address people in the Sagwara area in Dungarpur, which is a tribal district in south Rajasthan. According to Raguvanshi, the tribal population has traditionally voted for the Congress party. She also said that they would "welcome him among them".

However, The Economic Times reported that the BJP pulled ahead of the Congress in the party's supposed stronghold of the tribal districts of Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur, and Pratapgarh in the 2013 elections.

Ahead of Rahul's arrival, AICC general secretary and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot "welcomed" Rahul to the state.

Rahul's visit came a few days after BJP president Amit Shah's visit to the state. Shah had spoken to farmers at a function in Nagaur district and said that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi do not give slogans merely for elections and they know how to make them a reality. Targeting Rahul, Shah said that he doubted if the Congress leader even knew Rabi crops and Kharif crops are grown.

File photo of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Twitter@INCIndia

The Modi government approved the declaration of 227 villages across the tribal districts as 'scheduled area' in April 2018. This would allow the people control over minor resources of minerals and forest produce.

However, the Rajasthan Congress remains optimistic about a win at the Assembly polls this year. The Economic Times quoted state Congress chief Sachin Pilot as saying, “The writing is on the wall. Congress is coming with a big majority. Rajasthan’s result will pave the way and Congress will lead the government at the Centre also."

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Sunday said her government left "no stone unturned" in serving the people of the state and sought from them another term, during 'Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra' at her home turf in the Hadouti region.