Rahul to visit Ram temple before roadshow in MP

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will continue his temple run in Madhya Pradesh as he hits the campaign trail on Thursday from the pilgrimage town of Chitrakoot to oust the 15-year-old BJP government.

'Soft Hindutva' has been the flavour of Congress' election campaigns in Gujarat and Karnataka and the trend would continue in the poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

On a recent visit to Bhopal for a roadshow, the Madhya Pradesh Congress had sought to highlight Rahul's Kailash Mansarovar yatra by portraying him as a 'Shiva Bhakt' on posters and banners across the city.

On Thursday, the Congress president is expected to kick start his roadshow from the Kamtaji Temple dedicated to Lord Ram. Rahul is expected to cover the area from Satna to Rewa during the roadshow and address a rally at Baikunthpur on Friday, a senior Congress leader said.

On Monday, on a visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi, Rahul was greeted among chants of 'Bam Bam Bhole' and was described as a 'Shiv Bhakt' by the Congress workers.

Similar temple visits are also planned in Rajashthan and Chhattisgarh.

In Rajashtan, Rahul had visited the famous Govind Devji temple in Jaipur, while the iconic Nathdwara temples dedicated to Srinathji and Khatu Shyam temple in Sikar too are on his itinerary in the desert state.

Ironically, while Rahul is busy visiting temples, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a meeting with Syedna, the spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community, in Indore earlier this month.

The well-publicised temple visits by Rahul are an attempt by the Congress to shed a pro-minority tag the party had earned over the years, particularly during the 10-year UPA rule.

Senior Congress leader A K Antony had flagged the pro-minority perception about the Congress as one of the reasons for its dismal performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier this month, the Congress president undertook a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar to fufill a promise he had made after the mid-air scare over Hubbali during the Karanataka poll campaign.