Delhi polls: Top Congress leaders' rallies to focus on Dalit, Muslim & Purvanchal voters

The top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, will hold rallies for the campaign in Delhi Assembly elections with their focus to cover Dalit, Purvanchal and minority voters, party sources said on Sunday.

As part of a strategy,  the Congress which has been on a back seat with the campaigning for Delhi polls has planned meetings of its top leadership in the last phase of the campaigning, to bring back its old vote bank.

In view of the same, five rallies will be held by the Gandhi family in Delhi in two days. Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi will address a rally in East Delhi. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are expected to address four rallies jointly.

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Focus on Muslim votes

Sonia Gandhi's hols a rally at Shastri Park in East Delhi on February 5, with a focus on the Muslim voters. Seelampur and Gandhinagar Assembly constituencies are connected directly with Shastri Park while adjoining seats like Babarpur, Mustafabad, Karaval Nagar are important to bag Muslim votes.

On the same day, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are set to address a rally at the Old Delhi's Haus Qazi area which is dominated by the Muslim population, and which comprise of the Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk and Sadar Bazar seats where Muslim voters are more than 20 per cent.

The political issues in these Muslim dominated areas include the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The Congress has stood against the CAA and NRC very strongly in their manifesto too, hoping to gain the sympathy of Muslim voters in the upcoming state elections.

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Reaching out to the Dalit vote bank

On February 4, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will address a meeting at Sangam Vihar in South Delhi, which is dominated by the Purvanchali seat. Poonam Jha Azad, the wife of Kirti Jha Azad, the head of the campaign committee of Delhi Congress, is contesting from this seat.

n February 5, the duo will also hold a meeting in the Kondli area of East Delhi to reach out to the Dalit vote bank. While Kondli is a Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved constituency, the Trilokpuri and Seemapuri seats adjacent to it are also reserved for the SC.

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The Congress has projected Kirti Azad as a face of Purvanchali in Delhi. Apparently, campaigning for his wife could be an attempt to give a message to the Purvanchali voters across Delhi. Along with Sangam Vihar, adjacent seats like Deoli and Ambedkar Nagar are also in the reserved category.

Besides this, on February 4, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will seek votes for the Congress' prominent Sikh leader Tarvinder Marwah from the Jangpura seat.

Campaigning in Delhi will end on February 6 and voting will be done on February 8.

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(With inputs from ANI)

(Photo: PTI)