Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will participate on Sunday in the party’s ongoing ‘Goy Rakhon Yatra’ (Save Goa Campaign), a public outreach initiative ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly elections, a party functionary said.
The Opposition party’s campaign in the coastal state will conclude on Sunday, he added.
A Congress leader had earlier said Gandhi’s participation would bring national-level attention to the campaign.
Gandhi will arrive in Goa in the afternoon, walk alongside Congress workers in Margao town and later address a public meeting there, the party’s Goa in-charge, Manikrao Thakare, told reporters in Margao.
The 27-day ‘Goy Rakhon Yatra’, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Goa Assembly Yuri Alemao and state Congress president Girish Chodankar, will culminate on Sunday, Thakare said.
Gandhi will announce the party’s future course of action during his address in Goa, Alemao told reporters.
Claiming that the yatra had received an overwhelming response across all constituencies, Alemao said, “We have received so much love during the yatra. Everyone joined the yatra in their own way.”
Chodankar said Gandhi had a special affection for Goa, which he had expressed on several occasions.
Targeting the BJP, he alleged that the ruling party had made every effort to prevent Gandhi from addressing a public meeting in the state.
“There is a special storm that has started in the country, and the BJP has no might to stop it,” Chodankar said, alleging that the BJP had tried to create hurdles for Sunday’s event.
“But we overcame all of it, and Gandhi will be addressing a public meeting in Margao,” he added.
The yatra, which began on September 22, covered all 40 Assembly constituencies in Goa. The Congress has presented the campaign as a movement to safeguard the state’s land, identity, environment and cultural heritage while reaching out to people across the coastal state.
The campaign has highlighted issues such as land conversion, unemployment, corruption, public safety and the preservation of Goa’s distinctive social and cultural identity.
The outreach initiative comes ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly elections, with the Congress seeking to strengthen its grassroots presence and mobilise support across constituencies, including those represented by the ruling BJP.
(With inputs from PTI)