All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice president Rahul Gandhi will fly down to Kozhikode on Tuesday to address a public meeting organised by the Youth Congress in connection with its State conference.
Youth Congress State president Dean Kuriakose said about a lakh Congress workers and sympathisers would take part in the event on the Kozhikode beach at 4 p.m. Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony, All India Congress Committee general secretary Mukul Wasnik, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Youth Congress national president Amarinder Singh Raja Brar and others would take part in the programme.
The visit of Mr. Gandhi is expected to give a stimulus to the sagging image of the Congress and its feeder organisations in the State, especially with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government facing serious allegations of corruption.
The Congress vice president who has begun a high-pitched campaign against the Narendra Modi government which has completed one year in office will also expose the “double standards” of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the State, Congress sources said.
The Congress leaders also hope that Mr. Gandhi’s visit will temporarily halt the ongoing factional feuds triggered over a reported change in party leadership. They believe that the sour relations between sections of party leaders would affect the prospects of the party in the coming by-poll to the Aruvikkara Assembly segment and the three-tier local body polls scheduled for October.
Mr. Gandhi is expected to reach the city at 1.30 p.m. After the programme here, he will leave for Thrissur. He is expected to visit Chavakkad on Wednesday to study the situation relating to the agitation by the fishing community against the decision to extend the trawling ban to 61 days. On Wednesday, Mr. Brar will inaugurate the delegates’ meet of Youth Congress at Tagore Centenary Hall here.
