Rahul Gandhi to address grassroots workers in Mumbai

Rahul Gandhi will be in Mumbai on Tuesday. (PTI Photo/File)

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will launch a ‘contact initiative’ Tuesday where he would directly communicate with grassroots workers of the party in Mumbai. According to senior Congress leaders, the main aim of the initiative is to overcome the factionalism and infighting that has dogged the party’s efforts for a revival in its political fortunes ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul will hold a two-hour interaction with party’s booth-level workers in the city. Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam Monday said over 15,000 booth-level workers are expected to attend the event at NESCO grounds in Goregaon. He said the initiative, which was Rahul’s “brainchild”, would later be replicated in other parts of the country. “This is for the first time in decades when the Congress chief will directly interact with grassroots-level workers,” he said.

If party insiders are to be believed, the reason behind choosing Mumbai for launching the initiative was also strategic. Riven with factionalism and deeply divided, the party continues to face an existential crisis in Mumbai. Rahul, apparently, wants to send out a message to warring camps within local units that they need to close ranks, or he would be forced to enforce discipline.