Cong president Kharge to address first public rally in poll-bound MP today

BHOPAL: Ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled around November, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will address his first public rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.

Kharge is likely to take on the central BJP leadership as well as the state government led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his rally in Sagar district.

Also, it would be Kharge’s first visit to Madhya Pradesh after being elected as head of the century-old political party in October last year.

The veteran Congress leader had visited Bhopal to seek the state unit’s support for the party’s presidential poll on October 17, 2022.

Significantly, the Congress has successfully won Assembly elections under his leadership – Himachal Pradesh in November 2022 and his home state Karnataka in May this year.

Notably, he will be addressing a poll rally in Sagar district of Bundelkhand region one-and-a-half week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a massive rally on August 12.

MP’s Bundelkhand region with a predominant population of the Ahirwar-SC caste, accounts for 20-25 per cent of total voters.

Overall, Dalits constitute 16 per cent of the state’s population, Of the total 230 seats, 35 are SC reserved seats, major part of which are in the Bundelkhand and adjoining Gwalior-Chambal and Vindhya regions.