Priyanka begins 2-day Assam poll campaign with visit to Guwahati temple

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra began her two-day visit to poll-bound Assam on Monday by offering prayers at the famed Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.

The AICC general secretary, accompanied by the party’s Assam in-charge Jitendra Singh, was received at the Lokpriyo Gopinath Bordoloi Airport in Guwahati by state unit chief Ripun Bora and other party leaders.

She halted at Jalukbari area, where Congress supporters felicitated her, before proceeding to the Shakti Peeth atop Nilachal Hills.

“I sought blessings for myself, my family and above all for the people of Assam,” she told sources.

Asked about the forthcoming elections in the state, she said she will talk later about politics.

“I come to temples to seek blessings and offer thanks to the God who has given me a lot,” she added.

After visiting the Kamakhya shrine, she left for the airport to go to Lakhimpur in Upper Assam, where she is scheduled to visit Sonari gram panchayat, hold a meeting with party workers and launch a protest programme of unemployed youths.

She is also scheduled to visit the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva’s primary disciple Sri Madhavdev at Letekupukhuri before leaving for Gohpur in Bishwanath district.

The Congress leader is scheduled to offer homage at the statue of freedom fighter Kanaklata Barua, who was martyred in police firing while attempting to hoist the Indian flag during the Quit India movement in 1942.

She will also interact with women tea garden workers and self-help group members before spending the night at Bishwanath.

On Tuesday, the Congress leader will visit Sadharu tea estate in Biswanath, where she will interact with women tea garden workers, before leaving for Tezpur in Sonitpur district.

She is also scheduled to visit the Mahabhirav Temple and address a public rally at Tezpur, before concluding her two-day visit to the state.

Elections to the constituencies in these three districts will be held in the first phase of polling in 47 seats on March 27.

Elections to the 126-member Assembly will be held in three phases, with 39 seats going to polls in the second phase on April 1 and 40 in the third and final phase on April 6.