Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge arrives in Himachal, to address election rallies in Shimla, Nalagarh on Wednesday

Shimla, November 8

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday arrived here on a two-day visit to poll-bound Himachal Pradesh and held a meeting of top party leaders.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was also present during the meeting, where the party’s election strategy was discussed, sources said.

Kharge will address a poll meeting at Banuti in Shimla and at Panjhera in Nalagarh on Wednesday before returning to Delhi.

Kharge would be campaigning in favour of party candidates for the first time as the Congress chief.

Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat will be the first challenge for Kharge, who has assumed the new role of Congress president taking over from Sonia Gandhi who held the top post for over two decades.

The Congress has lost several states after losing the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to the BJP.

The Congress is also struggling to find prominence in the opposition space amid expanding regional players like AAP and TMC. A number of prominent faces in the Congress have also left the party in recent times.