With 5 days left for polls, Rahul Gandhi to campaign in Himachal Pradesh?

The Congress recently released its manifesto for the Assembly polls in the presence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

With just five days to go for the Himachal Pradesh polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit the hill state on November 8 to campaign for the party.

Gandhi, who is currently busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, will be taking a day off to focus on campaigning for Himachal polls, media reports said on Monday.

DH could not independently confirm the reports.

The Congress leader has been facing some criticism for not campaigning for the polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat and instead focusing solely on the Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign which started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and is currently in Telangana. The march is set to enter Maharashtra with the marchers estimated to be in Nanded by 9 pm.

While Congress faces a daunting task in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh after its lacklustre performance in other states and bye-elections, the party will look to gain some mileage from Gandhi's campaign.

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The party recently released its manifesto for the Assembly polls in the presence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The Congress is banking on the anti-incumbency factor and urging voters not to re-elect the BJP in the state.

While the BJP has gone full steam with its campaigns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah conducting rallies in the state, the Congress has so far done little to campaign before the polls. While the BJP has hinted at the possibility of keeping incumbent Chief Minister Jairam Thakur as the potential choice for Chief Minister should the party come back with majority, the Congress has seen some strong contenders for the post and thereby not announced the name of its chosen Chief Minister face yet.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will also be campaigning for the party on November 8 and 9.

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had campaigned for the party last week where she had addressed a rally in the hill state. Vadra had said that if elected, her party will provide one lakh jobs, restore the Old Pension Scheme and provide financial assistance of Rs 1,500 to every woman in the state.

Vadra had also vowed to fight the state's drug problems and help in building English-medium schools in every constituency should the party win the polls.

(with agency inputs)