AHMEDABAD: Congress suffered another blow a day before Rahul Gandhi‘s Monday Gujarat visit with state Youth Congress president Vishwanathsinh Vaghela resigning from the party.
Following his exit, he alleged that the former national president is surrounded by flatterers while suffering a lack of support among senior leaders.
Vaghela highlighted the internal fights and factionalism, and even alleged that he had to pay Rs 70 lakh to the party for whatever post he got between 2016 and 2021. Vaghela is considered a close ally of former working president of Gujarat Congress, Hardik Patel.
When Hardik Patel resign from Congress and joined BJP, some Youth Congress leaders questioned Vishwanath’s integrity asking, “As Hardik joined BJP, what would Vishwanath do? How can he remain president of Gujarat Youth Congress?”
Rahul Gandhi will on Monday address a rally of booth-level party workers and attend a prayer meet at the Sabarmati Ashram here in Gujarat where the Assembly polls are due later this year.
Gandhi will address the 'Parivartan Sankalp' convention of the Congress's "booth warriors" at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, party leaders said.
He will later visit the Sabarmati Ashram where he will attend a prayer meet and seek blessings of Mahatma Gandhi ahead of the Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', they said.
Gandhi last visited Gujarat on May 10 when he addressed tribals in Dahod town.
This time he will mobilise booth-level Congress workers for the upcoming elections and thereby launch the party's election campaign, the party leaders said.
Gandhi's visit to Gujarat comes two days before the party launches the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on September 7.
The 3,500 km long foot march will cover 12 states and two Union Territories and will be completed in nearly 150 days.
The Congress has prepared a three-month-long campaign for the Gujarat Assembly elections due later this year, party leaders said.
Senior Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi will campaign during this period, they said.
The party aims to release its first list of candidates by September 15, they added.
(With PTI Inputs)