Rahul, Sonia may visit Gujarat for tribal yatra

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi are likely to visit Gujarat but address separately the party's tribal-focused 'Navsarjan Adivasi Adhikar Yatra' to be held later in October.

The 12-day yatra, likely to begin on October 20 or 21, will start from Ambaji in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat and conclude at Umbergaon, Valsad in southern part, covering state's tribal-dominated eastern belt, state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.

"We have requested Rahul Gandhi to address a gathering at the beginning of the yatra at Ambaji on October 20 or 21. Party President Sonia Gandhi is also likely to address a gathering at the end of the about 12-day yatra. These are subject to confirmation," he said.

The yatra is an attempt of the opposition to woo tribals through direct meetings along the course of the 1200-km journey covering around 100 kilometres on each day.

"Through the yatra, party leaders and workers will cover 38 Vidhan Sabha seats across 13 tribal-dominated districts where meetings will be held at regular intervals with locals and their problems, grievances will be taken a note of," Doshi said.

Assembly elections are due in the state in later part of 2017.