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Rahul Gandhi to kickstart Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bidar today

Besides addressing the rally, the local unit of the Congress will felicitate Mr Gandhi, who was recently elected President of the AICC.

Kalaburagi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi will kickstart the campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election in the state from Bidar on Monday. The Congress is on a strong pitch in the district where it had won four of the six Assembly seats. Mr Gandhi will launch the 'Jana Dwani Yatra' from Bidar with about two lakh workers from various assembly segments in Bidar and neighbouring Kalaburagi likely to attend the rally.

Leader of the Congress group in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao, former CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM Dr G Parameshwar will attend. The rally will be a big occasion for three term MLA from Bhalki and KPCC working president, Eshwar Khandre.

According to KPCC Working President Eshwar Khandre, Mr Gandhi will launch the 'Jana Dwani Yatra' from Bidar. About two lakh workers from various assembly segments of Bidar district and neighbouring Kalaburagi district will attend the rally which will be held at the Nehru Stadium at 11 am. Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K.C. Venugopal, Dinesh Gundurao, Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwar and D.K. Shivakumar will attend the programme.

Besides addressing the rally, the local unit of the Congress will felicitate Mr Gandhi, who was recently elected President of the AICC. The rally will be a big occasion for three term MLA from Bhalki Khandre, who was recently appointed the working president of KPCC, to exhibit his strength and also organising skills. It's the first time that a leader from the district has been elevated to the second top position in the party.

With the Congress having won four of the six Assembly seats in the district in the recent Assembly election, party leaders are in an upbeat mood. In so far as the Bidar Lok Sabha seat is concerned, the Congress is in a very strong position this time with five of the seven Assembly segments under its control.

"With the Bidar Zilla Panchayat and most taluk panchayat in its bag, the Congress is sitting pretty this time. Although the Bidar Lok Sabha seat was a pocketborough of the saffron party since 1991 when late Ramachandra Veerappa won it for the first time, the party appears to have become considerably weaker now with most of its leaders losing the Assembly election or quitting the party.

It's only in Aurad Assembly seat that the BJP candidate has won. But the relationship between Aurad MLA Prabhu Chavan and the incumbent BJP MP Bhagwant Khuba is such that they don't see eye to eye. By kickstarting the campaign here, Mr Gandhi wants to send a strong message that his party is determined to wrest the Bidar Lok Sabha seat from the BJP,” a senior political analyst observed.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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