Kharge, Rahul and Priyanka to campaign in Maharashtra for 1st phase of LS polls

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra will campaign in Maharashtra for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the party said.

While Rahul Gandhi will campaign in Bhandara-Gondiya constituency on April 13, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in Chandrapur on April 15, Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said.

Kharge will be in Ramtek either on April 8 or 9, he said. Ramtek, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur are the five constituencies in the state which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19.

Except Ramtek, BJP and Congress are pitted against each other in the remaining four seats. In Ramtek, former Congress MLA Raju Parwe is contesting from the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur), state BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar (Chandrapur) are the prominent candidates. There are 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, and the elections will be held in five phases between April 19 and May 20.