By IANS,
Shimla : Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address an election rally Monday in the historic town of Mandi, becoming the first national-level leader to visit Himachal Pradesh for campaigning in the forthcoming state assembly elections, an official said.
“Sonia Gandhi will address her first election rally in Mandi. One more rally has been planned after this one,” a Congress leader said here Sunday.
Former union minister and Congress leader Sukh Ram, 83, belongs to Mandi town and commands influence in the area.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would address a rally in Una town Oct 28, while a series of rallies have been planned by the party for general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also invited its national leaders to address rallies in the state.
“Our leaders L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari would address poll rallies this week,” BJP national general secretary J.P. Nadda told IANS.
He said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will also address rallies.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made during the visit of the national leaders.
As many as 4.59 million voters will cast their ballots Nov 4 at 7,253 polling stations across Himachal Pradesh. The votes will be counted Dec 20, after the Gujarat assembly polls are over.