Congress President Rahul Gandhi to have hectic trip to Kerala, to address mass

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will formally launch the party's poll campaign in Kerala on Thursday when he will address a huge rally of workers at Kozhikode on March 14.

Gandhi will arrive here this evening after his programmes in Nagercoil and Kanyakumari in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. He has no official programmes in the state Wednesday and after reaching here, would board a special flight to Kochi and spend the night at a guest house in Thrissur, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said.

The Congress chief would attend a series of programmes on March 14, beginning with the "fishermen's parliament" at Triprayar in Thrissur. Later, he would fly to Kannur, where he would meet the family of slain Youth Congress leader Shuhaib at the airport there.

He would leave for Kasargod and meet the families of Kripesh and Sarathlal, the youth congress activists, who were allegedly killed by the CPI(M) recently. Gandhi would then leave for Kozhikode, where he would attend the Janamaha rally, in which thousands of party workers from six north Kerala districts are expected to participate.

Though he was earlier scheduled to visit the house of slain CRPF jawan V V Vasanathakumar in Wayanad, there are media reports that it is unlikely to happen as the security agencies are yet to give clearance owing to Maoist threat.

He is also expected to hold discussions with senior party leaders on the selection procedure of candidates, poll preparations and strategy as the crucial Lok Sabha polls is just 40 days away in the state. Though the Congress is yet to finalise and announce its nominees, Gandhi's visit is expected to rejuvenate the workers in Kerala, one of the states where the party is pinning its hopes high.

-PTI