Rahul to visit state for 3 days in Nov

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to tour Malnad and coastal areas of the state for three days from November 19 in an effort to strengthen the party ahead of the Assembly election.

Sources in the state Congress said Rahul will take part in a public rally planned to be organised to mark the birth centenary of late prime minister Indira Gandhi at Chikkamaluru on November 19. On November 20, he is scheduled to take part in a roadshow in Kadur and Birur. He will address a public rally later in the day at Shivamogga.

On November 21, Rahul will participate in a convention of fishermen at Kumta in Uttara Kannada district. He is also scheduled to hold a meeting with the party leaders from Malnad and Coastal regions to review the preparations for the election, the sources said.

Besides, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who will be leading the Congress campaign in the election, is planning to tour all 224 Assembly constituencies of the state from mid-December. The one-month tour is scheduled to begin from Chamarajnagar district in the south and end in Bidar district in the northern part of Karnataka.

Prior to it, the chief minister will be taking part in the district-wise rallies that the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee is planning to organise from the first week of November.

This apart, the KPCC manifesto committee headed by former chief minister M Veerappa Moily is scheduled to hold its first meeting on October 29 in Bengaluru. The panel members will be holding consultation with various sections of society before finalising the draft manifesto, the sources said.