Vadodara, March 20 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will visit Vadodara on March 23 to attend a tribal rights gathering, as the Congress intensifies preparations for upcoming local body elections in Gujarat, party leaders confirmed on Friday.

He is scheduled to participate in the ‘Adivasi Samvidhan Adhikar Sammelan’, to be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., where members of tribal communities from across central and eastern Gujarat are expected to attend.

Rajendrakumar Parghi, chairperson of the Adivasi Congress of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), said Gandhi would be present in Vadodara as part of a one-day visit.

“Rahul Gandhi will be in Gujarat on March 23 and will attend a programme in Vadodara. The Sammelan will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and this is a one-day visit. Many people are expected to arrive,” he told IANS.

Sources said the detailed schedule is expected to be announced at a press conference by GPCC president Amit Chavda tomorrow.

Gandhi is also expected to hold a meeting with the state party’s core leadership to review preparations for the forthcoming local body elections and by-elections.

The visit comes days after the Congress constituted several state-level committees to coordinate its election strategy in Gujarat.

The party has formed panels for strategy, campaign management, election operations, manifesto preparation and media outreach.

Senior Congress leader Bharatsinh Solanki has been appointed chairman of the strategy committee, while Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil will head the campaign committee.

Senior leader Siddharth Patel has been named chairman of the election management committee.

A party functionary said the committees have been tasked with coordinating campaign planning and overseeing election management across local bodies in the state.

Gandhi, for the past one year, has been focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state and visited several times as part of an organisational revamp project.

–IANS

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