Himachal polls: Priyanka Gandhi to address rally in Kangra dist today

KANGRA: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will address a rally on Friday in Nagrota Bagwan in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.

In a press conference held by Congress candidate from Nagrota Bagwan and party Secretary RS Bali said, "It is a matter of pride for us that Priyanka Gandhi will be coming to the hometown of former Congress leader and minister GS Bali.

Her visit is a tribute to the development work of GS Bali." Bali further added that Nagrota Bagwan is the only rural constituency in the country where government engineering, medical, ITI, pharmacy and technical colleges are present in the same constituency.

"GS Bali dedicated his life for development in the constituency and the state during his tenure as MLA and minister," he said.

This will be Priyanka Gandhiji's first visit to the Kangra district. She will address a rally in Gandhi Ground of Nagrota Bagwan. With elections just around the corner, Congress has promised that it will restore the old pension scheme (OPS) in the first cabinet meeting as soon as it forms the government.

Last month, while addressing the 'Parivartan Pratigya Rally' in Solan the Congress leader Priyanka Vadra on Friday had that if the party is voted to power in the forthcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, a decision will be taken on restoring the old pension scheme in the first meeting of the cabinet.

"I am giving you a guarantee today that after forming the government here, two major decisions will be taken in the first cabinet meeting. First is to give one lakh government jobs and the second is to implement old pension scheme (OPS)," she added.

Agniveer and unemployment are also crucial issues for the youth that Congress is banking on.

Congress has promised that it will provide 5 lakh employment if it comes to power and 680 crore startup fund.

The party is without its tall leader Virbhadra Singh in this election. He passed away last year.

Himachal has been witnessing a bipolar contest between Congress and the BJP but Aam Aadmi Party is also trying to make its presence felt.

The Congress declared its first list of 46 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state with the party fielding senior leaders including Kaul Singh Thakur, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Mukesh Agnihotri, Asha Kumari and Chander Kumar.

Vikramaditya Singh, son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, has again been fielded from Shimla Rural.

The party has fielded sitting 19 MLAs from their traditional seats in the first list.

Election Commission announced the schedule for the assembly election in Himachal Pradesh on Friday.

The state will go to the polls on November 12 and the counting of votes will be held on December 8.

In the previous election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 44 seats while Congress won 21 seats.