Meghalaya polls: Rahul Gandhi to address rally in Shillong today

SHILLONG: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be addressing his maiden election rally in poll-bound Meghalaya on Wednesday.

The former Congress president's rally will be held at Malki Ground in Shillong. It will be Rahul Gandhi's first public appearance after Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Pertinent to mention, the Wayanad MP was missing in the campaign for the party in Tripura where polling was held on February 16.

So far, the top Congress leadership has been absent from the campaign scene in the three northeastern poll-bound states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland barring party president Mallikarjun Kharge addressing an election rally in Nagaland only on Tuesday.

However, Kharge was also missing from the campaigning in Tripura. Addressing a gathering in Nagaland's Chumoukedima, Congress president Kharge on Tuesday launched a series of attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that the party and its allies looted the state.

"For the last 20 years, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and BJP looted Nagaland. It's high time that the people get justice and a govt that works for the people," Kharge said.

"The BJP's politics is aimed at destroying the indigenous and unique culture of the Nagas. The people of Nagaland must stand against this attack on the culture of Nagaland and the politics of polarization and hatred," Kharge said.

Polling will be held in both the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland on February 27 while the counting is scheduled on March 2.