Congress delegation in UK to woo Punjabi NRIs

Thirteen campaign trucks dispatched to cover all the 117 constituencies.

The Punjab Assembly elections are just round the corner and the Congress is not taking any chances this time. Sensing that the state comprises of 31 per cent dalits and some of them have NRI connections, the Congress has dispatched off a delegation to London to interact with NRIs and also dalits there who have sizeable influence in Punjab.

Asha Kumari, in-charge of Punjab for the Congress and Congress MP Kumari Selja are currently in London. They are there on the invitation of the Indian Overseas Congress which is an outfit close to the Congress. The idea is to speak to NRIs who are in London and have influence in Punjab. The Congress plans to hardsell itself to these people. The party also wants to ensure that the message goes that the Congress is very much in contention in Punjab.

The four-day trip of the delegation will include dinners with NRIs. They will be visiting two gurdwara and interact with Sikh devotees. After this, there would be visits to Valmiki temples in the United Kingdom and interact with the Valmiki community. These are important steps for the congress as it feels that if this constituency abroad is not catered to then other parties may take them on board.

The Congress has already started Yatras in Punjab. Thirteen campaign trucks have been dispatched to thirteen parliamentary constituencies. They will cover all the 117 constituencies of the Punjab Assembly. The Congress has also targeted specific constituencies in Punjab. These include the dalits. Apart from this Christians, women and farmers have also been the people the Congress is actively looking at. This preparatory work is being done before the Congress vice-president is launched in the campaign. The Congress is also planning to launch former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh into the campaign by getting him to release the manifesto.