Cong camp pumped up as Rahul arrives today

DAY'S SCHEDULE
>> Rahul will be addressing all levels of party workers at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium on the Taleigao plateau this evening
>> The Congress president besides addressing around 12,000 booth level workers will also be meeting party MLAs and some NGOs
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GRIEVANCES
>> May hear the mining dependents
>> Those affected by coal pollution &
>> Coastal Regulatory Zone Notification
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PANAJI: With the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule imminent, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is slated to spend a few hours in Goa on Friday in a bid to galvanize the party workers and infuse enthusiasm in the rank and file.
Gandhi who will arrive on Friday afternoon will be addressing all levels of party workers at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium on the Taleigao plateau in the evening. According to Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar, the Congress president besides addressing around 12,000 booth level workers as part of an ongoing nationwide campaign "Jeet Ki Aur", he will also be holding separate meetings with party MLAs as well as some NGOs.
Gandhi's visit to Goa is set to be just a one-day visit, Kawthankar said.
Gandhi was last in Goa in the last week of January on a personal visit with his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. They spent time in a resort in South Goa but did not interact with any party member.
Rahul, however, did make a courtesy call on ailing chief minister Manohar Parrikar at the Goa legislative assembly complex during the visit which triggered a controversy following comments made by him later in Kerala the same day about the Rafale deal.
A verbal spat between national Congress and BJP leaders ensued but it died down after Rahul replied to a letter from Parrikar clarifying that his comments on Rafale in Kerala had nothing to do with his courtesy call.
Rahul's visit to Goa today, which had been announced by the Congress about two weeks ago, had evinced keen interest in political circles, especially after BJP State unit president Vinay Tendulkar had revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also expected to visit the State a day prior on March 7.
Earlier this week, however, the party announced that Modi's visit has been put off due to his 'busy schedule' following the Indo-Pak tension. He is now expected to come at the end of March.
Meanwhile, GPCC president Girish Chodankar had earlier announced that Gandhi is also expected to listen to the woes and address the mining dependents, a section of society that the government has been ignoring for the past year.
“The government has troubled the mining dependents a lot. Rahul Gandhi will listen to their grievances as well as to the grievances of those affected by coal pollution and the new Coastal Regulatory Zone Notification,” Chodankar had told the media on Wednesday at a press conference he addressed alongside AICC Goa Desk in-charge Dr Chella Kumar.
According to Gandhi's programme released, he will address the booth workers around 6 in the evening for around an hour and a half.
With Gandhi’s visit to Goa, Chodankar said the party is set to get a fresh surge of enthusiasm before the Goa by-polls in which the party will contest three seats, and the Lok Sabha polls in which the party will contest two seats.
“We're confident of winning both the by-polls and the Lok Sabha elections,” said Chodankar, adding that the party had already started its work in Mapusa.
“We’re taking up peoples’ issues. We’ll tell the people what the Congress is doing and also expose the lies of the government,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chodankar said that Gandhi had started preparing the Congress manifesto which will be a people's manifesto.