Rahul, Priyanka to address separate rallies in poll-bound MP next week

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will address separate public rallies in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on October 10 and 12 respectively, a party functionary said. Elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly are due in November this year. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is striving to retain power, while the opposition is trying to return to the helm. "Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally in Beohari of Shahdol district on October 10," state Congress media department president K K Mishra said. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will address a rally in Mandla on October 12, he said.

MP Congress chief Kamal Nath will also address both the gatherings along with other party leaders, Mishra said. This will be the fourth public rally of Priyanka Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh in the recent past. On October 5, she addressed a rally at Mohankheda in Dhar district. Earlier, she had addressed rallies in Jabalpur and Gwalior.

Rahul Gandhi's rally in Shahdol will be his second such event in the state after September 30, when he addressed a public gathering in Shajapur district. His Bharat Jodo Yatra had also passed through the state last year.

During her Mohankheda rally, Priyanka Gandhi reiterated the Congress' guarantees and made a pitch for a caste census. She also accused the BJP government in the state of indulging in corruption. The Congress has given several promises, including free and subsidised power, implementation of the old pension scheme, farm loan waiver and Rs 1,500 per month to women.

The Congress had formed a coalition government under Kamal Nath with the support of Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidates as no party won a clear majority in the 2018 state assembly polls. The Congress had won 114 seats in the 230-member House, while the BJP had bagged 109 seats.

The Nath-led government, however, collapsed after 15 months when a section of Congress MLAs, most of them loyal to Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, quit and joined the BJP. The saffron party returned to power in March 2020 with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as chief minister once again.