AHMEDABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Manipur has been in trouble for a long time, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the strife-torn state now is good, not a big deal, but "vote chori" (vote theft) remains the main issue before the country currently. The election mandates in Haryana and Maharashtra were stolen... People everywhere are saying 'Vote Chor'.
Gandhi reached Junagadh city to address district and city unit presidents of the Congress in Gujarat and interact with senior leaders. He spent over two hours training 41 city and district party presidents, setting an aggressive tone for the campaign ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The session, attended by a large number of Congress leaders and workers, marks his fifth visit to Gujarat in just seven months, highlighting the urgency with which the party is trying to rebuild its crumbling base.
His message this time was sharper than during his last visit to Anand on July 26: weed out the weak and prepare for war. Even before his arrival, an internal churn had begun with preparations underway to oust Amreli district president Pratap Dudhat.
Rahul Gandhi' rally is expected to boost the comeback of Congress party in Gujarat, with party leaders now gearing up for a direct face-off with the BJP.
The Congress high command has also branded nine other district presidents as “inactive,” comparing them to “rotten mangoes” in a clear signal that non-performers will be removed.
This urgency stems from the party’s humiliating defeat in the 2022 Assembly elections, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) split opposition votes and enabled a sweeping BJP victory. Over the past five years, AAP has steadily expanded its footprint in Gujarat, emerging as a serious challenger to the Congress for the anti-BJP vote.
Vowing to take on the BJP head-on, Gandhi has directed a major revamp of the state unit through an organisation creation campaign, reshuffling leadership and injecting new energy into the ranks. The latest training session aimed to arm local leaders with a clear strategy, linking grassroots mobilization to the party’s larger 2027 vision.
With the BJP firmly entrenched and AAP snapping at its heels, Rahul Gandhi’s Gujarat gamble hinges on cleaning house internally and uniting the party before taking the fight to its rivals. The countdown to 2027 has officially begun, and for Congress, it’s now or never.