New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address his first election rally in West Bengal on Wednesday ahead of the fifth phase of polling scheduled for April 17.
The Congress is contesting 12 seats in the fifth phase out of the 44 Assembly constituencies that will go to the polls on April 17, including three seats where it had won in 2016.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address his first public meeting at the Lodhan school ground in Goalpokhar in Uttar Dinajpur district. The second public meeting will be held at the Sarojini ground in Darjeeling district, which is part of the Naxalbari Assembly constituency.
While Rahul Gandhi is a late entrant in the poll arena of West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the BJP campaign so far in the state.
While the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are involved in a direct contest in Bengal, the Left is trying to win back its rural support, and the Congress is looking to retain its tally of 44 seats it won in the 2016 elections.
The Congress' vote share had declined to 4 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but it still remains an important factor in some districts such as Purulia, Malda and Murshidabad.
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