Raise public issues, build party base for Assembly polls: Rahul to Gujarat cadre

Eyeing the Gujarat Assembly elections in 2027, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday urged the newly selected heads of District Congress Committees (DCC) to raise issues concerning the public and build party’s base.

The former Congress chief also gave them an assurance that their views would be considered in the selection of candidates for the election.

The party has 12 MLAs in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly. It is holding a camp for DCCs in Anand district to build a strategic road map for the state elections

“Rahul clearly told the DCCs that their views matter and would be taken into account in the selection of the candidates for the Assembly poll. He also directed the cadre to raise public issues and build the party’s base,” a party leader from Gujarat told The Tribune.

Gujarat seems to be a priority for Rahul Gandhi. “If we can defeat the BJP in Gujarat, then the party can be defeated everywhere,” another Gujarat Congress leader quoted Rahul as saying during his address to the DCC heads.

Rahul also met members of various cooperative milk unions or dairies, who recently held protests outside Sabar Dairy in Himmatnagar town over the issue of milk procurement prices.

The state unit of the Congress is gearing up for a strategic reset, while many in the past had criticised it of going with old warhorses at the helm. However, the party leaders argue that the appointment of newly appointed state chief Amit Chavda and selection of Tushar Chaudhary as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the state’s Assembly is going to change the fortunes.

Particularly, when Rahul is going for a major OBC push nationally against BJP’s “Hindutva” political agenda, appointment of Chavda, an OBC and a five-time MLA from Anklav in Anand district is expected to change the Congress fortunes in the state.

Chaudhary is a tribal leader and first-time MLA from Khedbrahma. He is son of late CM Amarsinh Chaudhary.

By appointing people belonging to backward classes and ST communities at the helm, the Congress expects to revive its fortunes in the state.

Meanwhile, Rahul also met the victim families who lost their kin in the recent tragic collapse of the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge in Vadodara district.