Rahul, Priyanka and Kharge to campaign for MVA in Maharashtra next week

Mumbai: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party President Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, will campaign for the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra next week, a top party leader said here on Thursday.

Besides the trio of bigwigs, Congress Chief Minister Revanth Reddy (of Telangana), Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, plus other senior party leaders from all over India will join the campaign trail in Maharashtra, said AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala.

The MVA manifesto will be released here on November 10 in the presence of Kharge and other top alliance leaders, he added, after a detailed meeting with state Campaign Committee Chairman Chandrakant Handore and state Congress Vice-President Nana Gawande.

Detailing the programme, Chennithala said that Kharge will be on a 5-day poll tour with a series of rallies all over the state on November 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18.

Rahul Gandhi will take up his intensive campaign on November 12, 14 and 16, while Priyanka Gandhi will take a breather from her duties in Wayanad LS by-polls to canvass for the MVA candidates here on November 13, 16 and 17.

Chennithala reiterated that rebels contesting against the official MVA candidates would not be shown any mercy and suspended them for six years. He also ruled out any so-called 'friendly contests' in some seats.

The developments came a day after the MVA allies Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (SP)-Shiv Sena (UBT) and other allies launched their combined campaign for the November 20 Assembly elections with great fanfare in Mumbai on November 6, and announced its ‘5 Guarantees’ for the people of the state.

Chennithala, flanked by senior leaders like Gawande, Vishal Muttemwar, Suresh Shetty and S. Hattiambire and others assured that all the '5 Guarantees' had been finalised after a careful study of the economic situation.

They have been launched successfully in other Congress-ruled states to effectively cover all the sections of society like women, youth, boys, farmers, senior citizens, the poor and deprived sections, etc.