The Congress is pulling out all the stops in the last stretch of the Assembly election campaign. On Saturday, all of its top leaders have packed days and will address back-to-back rallies.

Party president Mallikarjun Kharge will be in Jharkhand to address public meetings in Jamtara, Khijri and Ranchi. Kharge’s visit assumes significance particularly with the concerns being raised by allies over a “weak” Congress campaign, as reported by Lalmani Verma.

The Congress’s top leaders, for example, have only campaigned in the seats where the party’s candidates are in the fray, skipping constituencies where INDIA allies are fighting. But even in its own constituencies, Congress party flags and campaign vehicles are barely visible, with the party struggling to gather crowds for rallies. The state votes in the second phase of polling on November 20.

The Congress is contesting 30 of the 81 Assembly seats in the Jharkhand elections, 17 of which voted in the first phase on November 13. Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led JMM is contesting 42 seats, the RJD six, and the CPI(ML)(L) three. In 2019, the Congress had won 16 of the 31 seats it had contested as part of the JMM-led alliance.

While top JMM campaigners Hemant and Kalpana Soren have between them held 60 rallies, Congress star face Rahul Gandhi has addressed a total of seven meetings so far, counting Friday. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge has addressed four more. “Seeing the share of the Congress in the alliance (seat-sharing pact), its leaders should have addressed more rallies,” a JMM leader said, wondering if the Congress got “many more seats in proportion to its strength in the state”.

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his sister and general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Priyanka Gandhi will be in Maharashtra. Rahul will be in Amravati and Chandrapur, while Priyanka will address a public event in Shirdi and then proceed to Kolhapur.

All 288 seats of Maharashtra go to the polls in a single phase on November 20 and the results will be announced on November 23.

The Congress’s influence in the state has been declining over the years — but still remains. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Congress outshone every other party in Maharashtra to win 13 Lok Sabha seats. Another strong showing for the Congress will strengthen the party’s hand, especially after the setback in Jammu and Kashmir and the unexpected loss in Haryana.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his two-day visit to Nigeria from Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. This will be his first visit to Nigeria and the first visit by any Indian Prime Minister in 17 years.

“At the invitation of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu will visit Nigeria from 16-17 November,” the ministry said in a statement. Modi will discuss measures to improve bilateral relations between the two countries and address the Indian diaspora in Nigeria during his visit.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu left for New Delhi on Friday after addressing the Assembly in Amaravati, officials said. On reaching New Delhi, the CM called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, as per an official statement.

According to the CM’s official schedule, Naidu will attend a meeting in the national capital on Saturday. Later, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo will leave for Mumbai in poll-bound Maharashtra and attend two public meetings at Thane and Bhiwandi.

The TDP is a key ally of the NDA government at the Centre and leads the state government in alliance with the BJP and Janasena.

– With PTI inputs