Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, will begin his poll campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly elections on Wednesday in Nagpur, where he will attend a “Samvidhan Sammelan” (Conference on Constitution).
Later in the day, Rahul Gandhi will attend a public meeting in Mumbai where the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) poll guarantees are expected to be announced. The symbolism of choosing Nagpur is crucial as it is not just the headquarters of the RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP, but also the place where B.R. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in 1956.
Nagpur is in the larger Vidarbha region which is of strategic importance in the battle for Maharashtra. Of the 76 constituencies where the BJP and the Congress are engaged in a direct contest, 36 are in Vidarbha, which is the state’s cotton belt. Of all the regions in the state, the BJP has fielded the most in Vidarbha (47), and dealing it a blow here will go a long way in paving the way for the MVA’s return to power in the state.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said tribals will rule the state as it belonged to them. Soren, also the JMM executive president, slammed the BJP, claiming that no Hindu is in danger in the state but the opposition party is only trying to create conflict with its Hindu-Muslim narratives.
“We fought for a separate Jharkhand state, and we will fight to secure our rights as well. Tribals will rule here as Jharkhand belonged to tribals,” he said while addressing a public meeting at Chotanagra in West Singhbhum district on Tuesday.
According to the 2011 Census, Jharkhand has a total population of 32,988,134. Of them, 26.21 per cent (8,645,042) are tribals. Except for Raghubar Das, all chief ministers of the state, which was created in 2000, belonged to tribal communities. Soren said that his government has functioned well with the support of the people and will continue to do so in the future.
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