Rahul Gandhi to visit north Gujarat from Nov 9-11

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is presently touring south Gujarat region, will visit north Gujarat between November 9 and 11, his party announced on Wednesday. State Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said that Rahul Gandhi will undertake a three-day visit to north Gujarat from November 9 to 11. He is expected to visit Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Patan and Aravalli districts. This will be Gandhi's second visit to north Gujarat as he had also toured flood-hit Banaskantha in August.

Even as the Congress's electoral base has seen a steady decline in other parts of the state in the past decade-and-a-half, north Gujarat is one area where the party has managed to hold on to its support base. In fact, Congress had won 17 seats in north Gujarat in 2012 elections, more than BJP's 15. However, it is equally true that the party faces an uphill challenge in these seats following a string of defections in August.