Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrived in Imphal on a two-day visit to Manipur for the Lok Sabha poll campaign.
Soon
after his arrival at the Imphal International Airport around 5 pm,
Rahul Gandhi drove straight to Congress Bhavan in the heart of Imphal
town and walked out to pay floral tribute at the Saheed Minar which was
located on the eastern portion of historic mapal kangjeibung in Imphal.
Guarded
by good number security personnel Rahul along with senior congress
leaders walked down to the iconic Ima Market (women’s market) and came
back to Congress Bhavan in a well guarded SUV.
Later he attended an extended meeting with Pradesh Congress Committee members at Congress Bhavan.
Prior to the meeting, he also had an interaction with the party’s unit presidents of the assembly constituencies.
On
the second day tomorrow, the visiting Congress chief is scheduled to
interact with the students at Manipur Film Development Corporation
auditorium in Imphal East district followed by a public address at Hapta
Kangjeibung at Palace gate in the same district.
After addressing the meeting, he will be leaving for Agartala.
Earlier in the day, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and former chief minister O Ibobi Singh
and Congress working committee member and Manipur Pradesh Congress
Committee (MPCC) president Gaikhangam led senior congress legislators
inspected the preparation works for tomorrow’s public meeting at Hapta
Kangjeibung premises.
Interestingly, the Congress is yet to
announce the names of its candidates for the polls which is scheduled to
be held here on April 11 and 18 next.
However, party sources
claimed that the names of the candidates will be announced after
tomorrow’s meeting. It may be noted that the last date for filing
nomination for the Lok Sabha polls in Manipur is March 25 and 26.
In
view of the arrival of the Congress president, the necessary security
arrangement had been made in and around the places where the AICC
president is scheduled to visit.
The Armed and unarmed security
personnel were deployed in and around the Hapta Kangjeibung area in
Imphal East district while similar number of police personnel were also
seen around the Congress Bhavan and its adjoining areas.
