Bus yatra, temple-hopping on Rahul's itinerary

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will hop onto a bus to campaign for the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, along with another round of temple visits in the Hindi heartland states.

The bus journey in Chhattisgarh has been named 'Sankalp Yatra', which will take the Congress president to 78 out of the 90 Assembly constituencies in the largely tribal state.

In Madhya Pradesh, the yatra has another key objective: to project a unified face for the faction-ridden state unit.

Madhya Pradesh unit president Kamal Nath, senior leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia are expected to travel on the bus with Rahul. The campaign is expected to kick-start next month.

Rahul had undertaken similar bus journeys in Karnataka and Gujarat ahead of the Assembly polls there.

The Congress also plans to include visits to popular temples such as the Mahamaya temple in Sarguja and the Bhoramdev temple in Kawardha on Rahul's itinerary in Chhattisgarh.

Rahul already toured 12 Assembly seats in the Bastar region of the state in May when he visited Chhattisgarh on the anniversary of the naxal attack in Jhiram Ghati, which had wiped out the Congress leadership in the state.

The Congress, in its Chhattisgarh manifesto, plans to promise a farm loan waiver, ban the consumption of alcohol in the non-tribal regions and halve electricity bills.

The party has been out of power in the state for 15 years.

The elections in Chhattisgarh have always been a close fight, with the BJP winning the 2013 elections by a margin of 0.75% vote share.

Former chief minister and renegade Congress leader Ajit Jogi has queered Congress plans by announcing his party's decision to contest all 90 Assembly seats in the state, hoping to capitalise on his support base among tribals and members of the Satnami caste.