With Punjab trip, Rahul to merge virtual & on-field

NEW DELHI: In a move designed to marry virtual campaigning forced by Corona restrictions with traditional onground splash, Rahul Gandhi will visit Golden Temple, Durgiana mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal in Amritsar along with all 117 party candidates for Punjab polls on January 27 morning, after which he will travel to Jalandhar to address the “Punjab Fatah” online public rally in the evening.
Forced to go virtual for canvassing votes, the Congress central leadership will start rallies on January 27, and there will be a flurry of virtual mass connect programmes for election-bound Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur, UP, by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and possibly Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. While Priyanka will focus on UP, she is expected to address a few programmes for other states also, especially Uttarakhand. The Punjab model of party leaders holding virtual rally with actual presence in the poll-bound state is likely to be followed in other states also, at least for kickoff.