By IANS
Mumbai : Congress president Sonia Gandhi will kick off her party’s campaign for the Gujarat assembly elections with a women’s rally at Anand, in south Gujarat, on Saturday.
The rally assumes significance in the wake of the political upheavals in the state following last week’s Tehelka sting operation that alleged state complicity in the 2002 sectarian violence in which more than 1,000 people were killed. The state is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
State Congress spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam, who will be handling the media in Baroda and Baroda division, told IANS here Tuesday that several political bigwigs from Maharashtra would be present at the rally. They include former ministers Manikrao Thakre, Kripa Shankar Singh, and senior legislators like Mukul Wasnik, Prithviraj Singh Chauhan, Sharad Ranpise as well as Sanjay Dutt.
Nirupam said hectic efforts are on to mobilise Congress party supporters, especially women, for the Anand rally. Later, several leaders from Maharashtra, including Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, would campaign for the party in Gujarat, he said.