Today in Politics: Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat; Andhra, Telangana CMs to hold talks in Hyderabad

After visiting Hathras on Friday, where he met the kin of the victims of a recent stampede that killed 121 people, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will be in Gujarat on Saturday. In a day-long visit, the Congress leader will be in Ahmedabad, meeting party workers.

Gandhi’s visit to Gujarat comes days after BJP and Congress workers clashed outside the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) office in Ahmedabad. Around 4 am on Tuesday, members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal entered the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan and defaced Gandhi’s posters in protest against his remark about BJP and Hinduism in his debut speech as the Leader of the Opposition.

While the main premises were locked, the protesters tore some party banners and defaced Gandhi’s photos near the main entrance of the building. A few hours later, a clash broke out between BJP and Congress workers outside the building after BJP youth wing members arrived there to protest. Five Congress workers were subsequently arrested.

Gandhi is scheduled to meet the family members of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat in the recent past, including the Rajkot game zone fire, the boat capsize incident in Vadodara, and the Morbi bridge collapse.

In context: Out of power in Gujarat for more than two decades, the Congress has struggled to find a foothold in the state in the face of the BJP’s all-powerful presence. Though the results of the 2017 state elections appeared to give the party hope, the Assembly elections last year, in which the BJP won a record victory, and the recent Lok Sabha poll results have put paid to those hopes. However, the Congress managed to win its first Lok Sabha seat in the state for the first time in a decade and provided