Rahul Gandhi reaches Bidar in Karnataka to kick off campaign for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrived at Bidar in Karnataka on Monday to begin campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, media reports said. Gandhi will be launching the ‘Jana Dwani Yatra’ from Bidar with around two lakh Congress workers from different Assembly segments of Bidar attending the rally, Deccan Chronicle reported. The Congress president is likely going to address the farmers on the four main issues of farm crisis, corruption, unemployment, and women issues.

Congress President @RahulGandhi will be in Bidar today to meet party workers and for a public meeting. pic.twitter.com/fz0kBztI06

— Congress (@INCIndia) August 13, 2018

Congress leaders who will attend the campaign include the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister G Parameshwar. Bidar is an important region for the Opposition party with the Congress having won four of the six Assembly seats in the district in the recent Karnataka Assembly election. On Monday, Gandhi will also embark on his maiden visit to Telangana after becoming the Congress president. During his visit, he will address women self-help groups, students and unemployed youth, entrepreneurs and others in separate events in Hyderabad on Monday and on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_4772631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Twitter@INCIndia[/caption] “The visit would give a definite boost to the party. This is his first visit to Telangana after becoming party president. He played a key role in the formation of Telangana,” Deputy Leader of Congress in State Legislative Council P Sudhakar Reddy told PTI. On Tuesday, Gandhi would hold a teleconference with 31,600 booth committee presidents, mandal and district Congress presidents and also state unit office bearers. Earlier, on 10 August, Rahul launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government in Chattisgarh accusing them of ruining the country’s progress and cheating farmers. “The progress that India made was ruined by Modi ji in the last four and a half years. BJP, (Chhattisgarh chief minister) Raman Singh ji cheated the farmers. Now farmers are looking towards Congress,” Rahul said at a party meeting in Raipur after inaugurating a new party office. On Saturday, Gandhi addressed a gathering of party workers in Jaipur , during which he hit out at the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal, farmer suicides, unemployment and the Goods and Services Tax. Gandhi said that Modi promised two crore jobs, Rs 15 lakh in every bank account and safety of women but, failed on every front. In the recently held Congress Working Committee meeting, it was planned that Gandhi along with other senior Congress leaders of the party will hold an “andolan”. According to India Today, the pan-India andolan is a massive reach out programme by the party through which CWC members and senior leaders will hold rallies, conduct door-to-door campaigns and interact with people in each district. With inputs from PTI