Gujarat Assembly polls 2022: Rahul Gandhi to address public rallies in Rajkot, Surat on Nov 21

New Delhi, Nov 19: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will campaign for the party in the Gujarat assembly elections on November 21 when he is scheduled to address a rally each in Rajkot and Surat, the party said on Saturday.

Gandhi, who is leading the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, has so far not campaigned in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh has already voted in the first phase (November 12), while Gujarat is scheduled to vote on December 1 and 5 in two phases.

"Rahul Gandhi will address two poll rallies in Surat and Rajkot on November 21, when the Bharat Jodo Yatra will have a rest day," AICC general secretary K C Venugopal told PTI.

The Yatra is currently in Maharashtra and is set to enter Madhya Pradesh in the next few days. Sources said the Yatra will have rest days on November 21 and 22, and Gandhi will take out time to campaign in Gujarat on November 21. The Congress is seeking to oust the BJP from power in Gujarat, where it has been in rule for the last 27 years in a row.

The Congress had given a good challenge to the BJP in the last assembly elections in Gujarat in 2017, when the Congress won 77 seats and the BJP 99.

The Congress had secured 41.44 percent votes while the BJP bagged 49.05 percent in the 2017 polls. The entry of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the poll this time is likely to change the equations from the straight contest between the BJP and the Congress.