Rahul to campaign in Gujarat today

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is all set to campaign in Gujarat on Tuesday to follow up with the visits of his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Gandhi scion would address rallies at Sanand in Ahmedabad in central Gujarat and at Jamnagar and Amreli in Saurashtra.

The visit of Rahul Gandhi on the last day of canvassing for the first phase of polls on Dec 13 comes in the wake of Sonia Gandhi hitting the campaign trail and the latter´s bitter criticism by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)´s chief minister Narendra Modi.

Narendra Modi on Monday took on Sonia Gandhi calling the Congress President a stranger to the state.

Likening the Congress to a "stranger" in the state, the BJP stalwart said, "If you are going on holiday for 15 days, do you give your keys to a stranger? No. Then, how can you give Gujarat to a stranger?"

Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi on Monday slammed the Gujarat government and said its policies were "anti-people" and "anti-farmer".

"Modi government´s policies are anti-people. Lakhs are reeling under poverty," Gandhi said while addressing a rally at Siddhpur town of Patan district in the poll-bound Gujarat.

"The UPA government initiated waiver schemes but the Gujarat government did not implement it," she said.

"Thousands of crores of farm loans were waived but the farmers in Gujarat did not benefit," said Sonia Gandhi.

Gujarat will vote in two phases on Dec 13 and 17.

The results will be declared on Dec 20.