Rahul Gandhi to address district Congress chiefs' training camp in MP today

Bhopal, Nov 8 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will visit Madhya Pradesh's hill station, Pachmarhi, to address the ongoing training camp of district presidents of the party on Saturday.

The Congress leader is scheduled to arrive at Raja Bhoj Airport in Bhopal around 2:30 pm, and from there, he will reach Pachmarhi at around 3:30 pm on Saturday, according to the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee.

Upon reaching Pachmadhi, Gandhi will hold a meeting with state Congress leaders at Ravisankar Bhavan. Thereafter, he will reach the MPT hotel, where a training camp of Madhya Pradesh Congress district presidents has been underway since November 2.

The Congress MP will address the ongoing training session of the district presidents in the late evening. He will join the state Congress leaders, including district presidents, for dinner.

After back-to-back meetings with state party leaders, Rahul Gandhi will stay overnight at Ravishankar Bhavan. The next morning, he will arrive at Bhopal's Raja Bhoj Airport and will leave for the Bihar election campaign.

A weeklong residential training camp for Madhya Pradesh Congress's district presidents started at a hotel in Pachmarhi on November 2 and will conclude on November 12.

Rahul Gandhi has long considered district presidents the backbone of the party organisation. They serve as the crucial link between grassroots workers and state leadership, responsible for mobilising cadres, shaping local strategies, and executing central directives on the ground.

In Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress is seeking to revive its organisational strength after recent political setbacks, the role of district presidents becomes even more significant.

Previous training and orientation camps for district heads, including the one held in 2023 at Pachmarhi, were designed to prepare leaders for election campaigns, instil ideological clarity, and improve booth-level management.

Earlier on Friday, Rahul Gandhi addressed a large gathering in Banka, Bihar, where he targeted the Modi government over alleged “vote chori”.

While addressing another rally in the Amarpur Assembly constituency in Banka district, he said, “The people of Bihar will not allow them to steal votes. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have been stealing votes for many years. Earlier, we did not have proof of vote theft -- now we have the evidence with data. That is why I am saying there is a stolen government in Haryana.”

--IANS

rs/