Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be addressing his first public rally after being reinstated as a member of Lok Sabha in poll-bound Rajasthan's Banswara district on Wednesday. The rally will mark the occasion of World Tribal Day as well as the beginning of the party's campaign for the state Assembly polls due later this year.
"Gandhi will address a public meeting at Mangarh Dham in Banswara on Wednesday. A large number of people, including tribals, will take part," Rajasthan Congress general secretary Swarnim Chaturvedi said, as quoted by news agency PTI. Chaturvedi added that Rahul Gandhi will reach Udaipur in a flight and take a chopper from there to reach the venue of the rally.
The venue is significant because in 1913, hundreds of tribal people led by Govind Guru were killed in firing by Britishers in Mangarh Dham, located near the Rajasthan-Gujarat border.
In November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too addressed a rally at Mangarh Dham.
The place is also close to Madhya Pradesh, where the assembly polls will be held later this year.
Banswara, Dungarpur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, and Pratapgarh are the tribal districts of Rajasthan and Congress workers from these areas will attend the rally, Chaturvedi said.
Congress in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, state party chief Govind Singh Dotasra, ministers Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya and other leaders are already at the venue to ensure all arrangements are in place.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will also be in Banswara on Wednesday.
In Rajasthan, the Gehlot government is facing allegations of corruption by sacked minister Rajendra Gudha, who vowed to expose the ministers and his red diary with proofs of the alleged corruption has taken the centrestage in the poll-bound state.
Gudha was sacked from the state cabinet after he criticised the Congress government over recent incidents of crimes against women in the state.