Rahul to enter Modi's bastion, will Congress get votes?

Updated: Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 13:56 [IST]

Ahmedabad, Dec 11: As a last minute effort to help Congress garner some votes in Gujarat, Congress's General Secretary and party's future Prime Ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi is all set to campaign in Gujarat on Tuesday, Dec 11. However, political observers are amused as why Rahul took so long to campaign in Gujarat? Moreover, the campaign deadline for the first phase of polls will come to an end on Tuesday evening.

Gujarat Assembly Elections 2012 will take place in two phases: First phase is slated on Dec 13 and second phase on Dec 17. The counting will take place on Dec 20, 2012. Gujarat has 182 assembly constituencies.

Earlier Chairperson of UPA Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had campaigned in the state. Now, sources say Rahul will campaign in Gujarat. Earlier Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi had ridiculed Rahul for not entering poll campaign in the state.

Not directly taking any names, Modi took a dig at Congress leadership, saying that the party's massive campaign in Uttar Pradesh failed to generate any votes for them in Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2012, earlier this year. "One of the Congress leaders from whom they have big expectations had camped in Uttar Pradesh for 12 months and people kicked that party out of the state. This 'precious' leader of Congress has not dared to campaign here for assembly elections," Modi said.

"The leader knows the temperament of Gujarati people. He has realised that they won't be able to impress the people of Gujarat. Hence, he decided to pay merely token visits here. He doesn't want to take the responsibility of his party's defeat here," the chief minister said. Modi also ridiculed the Congress for 'withdrawing' all photographs of Gandhi family members from its poll-related campaign material in Gujarat.

"This has happened for the first time in 60 years. Even political pundits have observed that not a single photograph of Nehru, Indira, Rajiv, Sonia, Priyanka or Rahul Gandhi has been used in Congress's election campaign advertisements," Modi said.

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