New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will launch the Himachal Pradesh poll campaign from Solan on October 10 where she will present the Congress as a change agent. “She will focus on three main issues like unemployment, price rise and corruption in government recruitment,” Himachal Pradesh campaign chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu told this channel. “The Congress is urging the voters to bring change and put the state back on the track of development,” he said.
Though the state leaders have been campaigning across the state, Priyanka’s Solan rally will be the first visit of a Gandhi family member to charge up the voters ahead of the polls. Rahul Gandhi is busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra and may not find time for the hill state, said the sources. Chhattisgarh chief minister and AICC observer for the hill state Bhupesh Baghel is also expected to attend Priyanka’s rally, said party sources.
Baghel, who is directly supervising the campaign, has made several visits to the state over the past weeks. Earlier, Priyanka was scheduled to address a rally at Hamirpur on Sep 29 but could not reach there due to some pressing assignments, said sources. Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh is banking on the legacy of her late husband and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh to wrest the state back from the BJP.
“The people remember the development that took place during the previous Congress governments. They know that nothing has happened over the past five years. They will vote for change,” Singh told this channel.
During her rally, Priyanka is expected to highlight the need for unity among the state team given the fact that the Himachal Congress has been losing leaders to the BJP. The latest to shift loyalty was working president Harsh Mahajan, who has influence in the Chamba region. Before him, Lakhwinder Rana, Pawan Kajal and Ramlal Thakur had joined the saffron party indicating that all was not well in the Himachal Congress.
The Congress too has been roping in BJP leaders and had recently included former state unit chief Khimi Ram. A few months back, AICC in-charge Rajeev Shukla had presented the team comprising state unit chief Pratibha Singh, CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri and campaign chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, as a Trimurti who will defeat the BJP together, he had hinted that the Congress was pushing collective leadership in the state. However, several senior leaders who have quit Congress since then had a common refrain that the state unit lacked leadership.
“They were pursuing their own interests and are blaming the party,” said Sukhu, expressing confidence that the grand old party would form the next government. As before, he ruled out the presence of AAP, which is trying to gain a foothold in the hill state and claimed that the BJP too was fully dependent on the image of PM Modi, who will hold a rally in Kullu on Oct 5. “When we come to power no corrupt leader or bureaucrat will be spared,” said Mukesh Agnihotri.
