AHMEDABAD: On the sidelines of the three-day 'Chintan Shivir' of the Congress held in Udaipur in neighbouring Rajasthan, a detailed plan was put together on how to go ahead with the campaign for Gujarat where elections are due in December, leaders here said on Monday.
New norms discussed at the brainstorming session, such as 'one family one ticket' and fielding those below 50 years of age on 50 per cent seats are likely to be implemented in Gujarat in the coming days, they said.
"State leaders who had gone to Udaipur had a detailed meeting with senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, and a detailed strategy was chalked out on how to take forward the election campaign," Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.
Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor, state in charge Raghu Sharma and around 14-15 senior leaders had attended the three-day brainstorming session in Rajasthan's Udaipur.
Former Union minister and ex-state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki, who was one of the participants, said decisions like 'one family one ticket' and '50 per cent tickets to those under 50' will be implemented for the Gujarat elections.
Doshi said it was decided that under the 'Bharat Jodo (Unite India)' programme a major public outreach will be launched to connect with the people in Gujarat.
"The Congress leadership is taking the elections seriously and has decided to appoint top leaders from outside the state as in-charge of one parliament seat each. They will look after the five to six Assembly seats coming under that Lok Sabha seat," Doshi said.
"The frequency of visits of leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also increase and they will take the campaign reins in their hands. In the month of June, both Rahul and Priyanka will come to Gujarat," he said.
The Congress will organise zone wise meetings of its workers in which specific responsibilities will be delegated to leaders of that zone, he said.
"Saurashtra zone meeting will be held on May 19, that of South Gujarat zone will be held on May 21 in Surat. In these, all local leaders will be called and given specific responsibilities well ahead of the elections," Doshi added.
The Congress, which will make price rise and corruption as main poll issues, is also hoping to rope in Patidar leaders like Naresh Patel to strengthen its vote base. "We have invited Naresh Patel and he will soon take a call," Doshi said.
The Congress has been out of power in Gujarat for the past 27 years and this time also faces the challenge of a third contender in the form of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
Rahul Gandhi, during a recent rally, had expressed confidence that his party would win the Assembly polls in Gujarat.