Gujarat Congress launches pre-poll exercise

Gujarat Congress, in a pre-poll exercise, has mobilised all available resources to reach out to voters in the State which has 26 Lok Sabha seats.
The Opposition party, which is battling desertions from its ranks ahead of elections, has involved leaders from various levels to accomplish pre-poll tasks and maximise their tally in Gujarat, where BJP is aiming for a clean sweep.
Of the 245 talukas in the State, 160 had been covered by our local leaders and respective Lok Sabha candidates, claimed GPCC president Arjun Modhwadia here today.
"To reach out to people, our candidates and other representatives have already started meeting people and party workers of each taluka. Of the 245 talukas, they have covered 160 till now. Of the 44 city and district committees, leaders of 40 such committees have conducted strategic meetings till date," Modhwadia said.

Congress MLAs have been roped in for co-ordination at the booth level.
"Apart from MLAs, we have roped in youth Congress and NSUI workers for booth management. We have also appointed supervisors to oversee various tasks," he said.

"This time, the nomination form is comparatively lengthy. Thus, our legal cell will be having an important task to scan each form and make sure that our candidates have attached all the required affidavits."
Congress candidates will start filing nominations from April 2 in Gujarat, which will vote on April 30, he said.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had won 11 seats, while the BJP bagged 15.

Meanwhile, two former BJP MLAs -- Bharat Khorani and Ranchhod Mer -- today joined Congress.