Rahul Gandhi sounds poll bugle in Rajasthan

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched the election campaign in Rajasthan, with a day-long visit to the state capital Jaipur, where he addressed party leaders and workers at the Ramlila ground.

It was a rare sight, the Jawahar Lal Nehru road in Jaipur was dotted with thousands of Congress workers hurling party flags to welcome party chief Rahul Gandhi for his maiden roadshow in the city after becoming party president.

While his day in the poll-bound pink city started amid party workers, Rahul concluded his one day tour by visiting Govind Dev Ji temple.

He was welcomed at over 14 points from Jaipur airport to Ramlila ground. He undertook a 13 km roadshow in a bus and it took him around 3.5 hours to reach Ramlila Maidan, where he addressed the party workers who had come from all over the state.

Rahul arrived at the Jaipur airport in a routine flight and was received by Congress general secretaries Avinash Pandey, also the in-charge of party affairs in Rajasthan, and Ashok Gehlot.

In this speech to the workers, Rahul said that the Congress will again win Rajasthan with huge numbers. He assured party workers that ticket distribution will be fair and he will keep a check that no parachute candidate gets a ticket. "Only those candidates will get a ticket, who have worked hard and are connected with people will be shortlisted," Rahul told party members at Ramlila Maidan in Jaipur.

The AICC chief's visit had two purposes - to sound poll bugle in Rajasthan and to break the saffron clout in Jaipur district. Experts see the roadshow as a counter-attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 7 visit when he had addressed more than 2.5 lakh beneficiaries of 12 welfare schemes in Amrodon ka bagh. Followed by Amit Shah's one-day party strengthening meet on July 21 with BJP workers.