PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
In view of the Vidhan Sabha elections of Uttarakhand slated to be held in February- March next year, the Congress party has come into an election mode. Sensing the chances of the party in the Vidhan Sabha elections senior leaders of the party have started making visits to the State. After the recent visits of leader of opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the State unit of the party has chalked out a plan to hold public meetings of many senior leaders of the party in the near future. The Congress general secretary and Member of Parliament Priyanka Gandhi is expected to visit the State in September. It is likely that LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will also attend a public meeting in the State in September.
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal said in the meeting of the State party leaders, the Congress president Kharge had said that he along with Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other senior leaders will visit the State in near future. The State unit of the party is working in coordination with the party high command on finalizing the date and venue of the public meetings of these leaders. The State unit of the Congress party is also keen to hold a public meeting of the Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in the State. After coming to power in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress party government headed by Sukhu had reinstated the old pension scheme (OPS) for the State government employees. By assuring the State government employees that it will reinstate the OPS after coming to power, the Congress party wants to win over their formidable vote bank.
Apart from the visit of the senior leaders, the Congress high command has started focusing on the issues of the State. The LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has recently met the parents of Ankita Bhandari in New Delhi which shows that the party wants to keep the sensitive issue of ‘ Justice to Ankita’ alive till the next year’s Vidhan Sabha elections. Gandhi has also met a delegation of the Nursing Ekta Manch in New Delhi and assured his support to them.
