Rahul Gandhi to launch pilot project to strengthen Congress at district level during Gujarat visit

The move is seen as a key step in the Congress party's broader strategy to rebuild its organisational strength in Gujarat, where it has been out of power for three decades.

Gandhi will kick off his visit in Ahmedabad with an orientation meeting involving 42 All India Congress Committee (AICC) and 183 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) observers.

These observers were appointed by the AICC on April 12 to oversee the appointment of district committee presidents across 33 districts and eight major cities of Gujarat. The process will cover a total of 41 organisational units. "The observers will play a crucial role in identifying and selecting local leadership to re-energise the party structure," Gujarat Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil said. "Rahul Gandhi will personally engage with them to outline the vision and expectations of the leadership," he added.

On Wednesday, Gandhi will travel to Modasa in Aravalli district, where he will address party workers and officially launch the pilot project aimed at strengthening district-level units. The initiative is being closely watched as a test case for similar organisational reforms in other states. Gandhi's visit follows closely on the heels of the high-profile sessions of the AICC and the Congress Working Committee (CWC) held in Ahmedabad on April 8 and 9.

Those meetings, held in Gujarat for the first time in years, were widely viewed as part of a renewed push to reclaim political ground in a state that has long been a BJP stronghold. The visit also builds on Gandhi's earlier tour of Gujarat in March, where he interacted with party workers and civil society groups, stressing the need for grassroots mobilisation and inclusive politics.