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The second phase of the West Bengal polls is over but the Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are yet to address a rally in the State. According to party sources, the duo will start campaigning, only after the Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry elections, scheduled on April 6, are done.
The Congress wants both the leaders to focus on Kerala as the party believes that coming back to power in the State is more important than fighting as a third front in West Bengal. On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi addressed five rallies in Kerala.
Good show in Kerala
Rahul Gandhi was supposed to wind up his Kerala campaign on Friday. But the State unit apparently compelled him to be available for the campaign on Saturday and Sunday (the last day for campaigning). “He was supposed to join the West Bengal campaigning on Sunday. But we requested him to be in Kerala as his programmes and rallies evoked great response from the voters,” a senior party leader from Kerala said. Gandhi spent about seven days in Kerala campaigning.
He also addressed meetings, roadshows and rallies for four days in Assam. The party high command also saw an unexpected response from voters in the State.
In Tamil Nadu, Gandhi campaigned for three days before filing his nomination, and then after the nomination, he campaigned for a day in on March 28. However, he didn’t campaign much in Puducherry.
Priyanka’s campaign trail
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was supposed to campaign in Assam on Friday. But she had to cancel her programmes after her husband Robert Vadra got infected with Covid 19. She said on Twitter that though she has tested negative, she is going to isolate herself, as advised by doctors.
The Gandhis scions have been vocal against the ruling parties in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Party insiders claim that a defeat in Kerala can even disrupt the present organisational hierarchy in the party. The hands of 22 leaders, who openly questioned the way the Congress is functioning, may get strengthened if the party fails in Kerala, Congress sources said.
Based on the positive response from supporters the party claims to have received in Assam, Congress sources said that if the party improves its position in the State and wins in Kerala, then it will be a stamp of success for Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. But losing both the States will make things difficult, they added.
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