Rahul Gandhi to tour Tamil Nadu, Kerala beginning Thursday

CHENNAI - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will visit Tamil Nadu and Kerala Dec 22 and 23 respectively to discuss strategies for growing the party and its youth wing, officials said.

Tamil Nadu Youth Congress officials told IANS that Gandhi will arrive Thursday morning (Dec 22) from New Delhi and address office bearers of the party’s youth wing in at least three districts. The district places, however, are yet to be finalised.

Districts under consideration include Villupuram, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, and Tirunelvelli, they said.

Gandhi is expected to discuss with the Youth Congress leaders strategies for the forthcoming assembly elections.

He will leave for Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala Dec 23, before flying back to New Delhi.

The Youth Congress in Tamil Nadu is 1.4 million strong. Party officials told IANS that they are now focusing on increasing the membership base further.

The tour comes in the backdrop of an intensification of the 2G spectrum scam probe, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Dec 15 raiding a host of people associated with disgraced former communications minister and DMK member A. Raja, including an NGO linked to prominent DMK MP Kanimozhi, who is the daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

There was no word on whether the Gandhi scion will call on DMK president M. Karunanidhi.