Dehra Dun, Nov 7: For the first time after returning from abroad where she underwent surgery, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be addressing a public rally at Gauchar in poll-bound Uttarakhand.
Gandhi's meeting, slated to take place on November 9 in the hilly district of Chamoli, will be a virtual launch of the party's campaign for the upcoming assembly election in the state.
The UPA Chairperson had gone abroad three months back and had returned after a surgery for an undisclosed ailment.
Besides addressing the rally, Gandhi will also lay the foundation stone for the much-delayed Rishikesh-Karanprayag rail project at Gauchar, state Congress spokesman Surendra Kumar said here today.
With just two days left for the ceremony, security has been beefed up at Gauchar with SPG commandos patrolling the area.
The project, which is expected to be completed in five years, would connect backward Garhwal region with the rest of the country through a rail link, shortening the 8-hour road journey between the holy city of Rishikesh and Karanprayag to just four hours, officials said.
Former Union Railway minister and Congress MP from Pauri Garhwal, Satpal Maharaj, said he had invited Gandhi to come to Uttarakhand to launch the rail project which would become an “engine of growth” for the region.
Maharaj, who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, said the project was of national importance and political parties should not indulge in “petty politics”.
He was referring to BJP's opposition to Gandhi inaugurating the project instead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Maharaj accused the BJP government of creating technical hurdles in the project by not transferring land to the Railways.
