Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi ended his three-day tour to Gujarat yesterday, beginning the election campaign for the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls due in Dec this year.
With the recent change in events in the political equations in Gujarat, Congress is not all that discouraged as it was earlier. The party has gained new ray of hope as it sees Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani extending the support of the Patidars, the OBCs and the Dalits.
Congress has always been charged with allegations of being anti-Hindutva and anti-minority, but this tour of the party Vice President spoke something else of the party. Other than targeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his failures, Rahul Gandhi also stressed on cleaning the allegation thrust on them.
Trying to reach to the hearts of the voters, by striking on the soft corners, Rahul visited the Temple in Dwarka, marking the beginning of his journey with a Hindutva touch. He also performed aartis at a garba venue each in Jamnagar and Rajkot in three days. He also paid a visit to the Chamunda Mata temple on Chotila hill-top on the last day of his journey. On his way back to Rajkot, Rahul also visited the Jalaram Bapa temple in Virpur.
All these actions of beginning the journey with a visit to the temple and ending it with a visit to the holy place were all to show to the people that the Congress party is not against Hindutva or the minorities.
State Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said that all the allegations of the party being anti-Hindutva were deliberately made by BJP and RSS. All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson, Shatkisinh Gohil, told TOI: “Congress has equal respect for all religions. When Indira Gandhi made a comeback after post-emergency elections, she visited the Ambaji temple. We are also confident of making a comeback in Gujarat after 22 years and therefore Rahulji is also taking blessings in the temples.”