Rahul Gandhi to address maiden rally as Congress chief on Sunday: Party issues memo to ensure maximum participation

Ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s maiden rally in New Delhi as Congress president next Sunday, the party is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a full house. After taking over charge of organisations and training in Congress from Janardan Dwivedi, Ashok Gehlot is seen pushing for structural changes in the party, in spite of the party’s poor performance in states against saffron surge. In a letter addressed to office-holders in the party across the country, Gehlot asked them to mobilise party workers and ensure maximum participation at the national-level Jan Aakrosh Rally which is scheduled to be held on 29 April at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. “To mobilise party workers and and ensure maximum participation, it has been decided that the party’s frontal organisations and key departments like SC department, Adivasi Congress, OBC department, Minorities department, Fishermen Congress, Unorganised Workers’ Congress, Ex-servicemen Cell of your state will also play a pro-active role so that cross section of the society could attend the rally,” the letter dated 17 April said. Read the letter below:

Unlike his predecessor Dwivedi, Gehlot is conducting regular meetings with states representatives in the Congress war room, sources told Firstpost. Gehlot aims to arrange a crowd of at least 30,000 at the rally, sources said. The venue has the capacity to accommodate one lakh people. Cong leaders believe that a crowd of 50 thousand or so will boost Gandhi’s image and give them impetus to put a good show in Karnataka’s multi-cornered contest in May.