Rahul Gandhi Vows Inclusive Candidate Selection, Slams 'Biased' EC at Gujarat Congress Meet

Last Updated Jul - 26 - 2025, 05:30 PM | Source : Fela News

At a party camp near Anand, Rahul Gandhi pledged to consult district leaders on candidate choices, called the Election Commission biased, and stressed defeating

Rahul Gandhi Vows Inclusive Candidate Selection

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (July 26, 2025) assured district-level party chiefs in Gujarat that their inputs would be valued in the selection of election candidates. Speaking at the 'Sangathan Sujan Abhiyan' training camp for newly appointed District Congress Committee presidents near Anand city, Gandhi also criticized the Election Commission of India, calling it "biased," and stressed the importance of defeating the BJP in its stronghold of Gujarat.

The training camp, aimed at preparing a strategic roadmap for the party’s “Mission 2027” ahead of the next state assembly polls, will run until July 28. Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda said Gandhi conveyed full support from the party leadership to its workers and encouraged them to focus on public issues.

"Rahul Gandhi told us that district and city unit leaders will be consulted during the candidate selection process," said Rajkot Congress chief Rajdeepsinh Jadeja.

Another participant quoted Gandhi comparing the Election Commission to a partial umpire in a cricket match, suggesting the Congress’s losses were not due to poor performance but because of an unfair electoral process. Surendranagar district Congress chief Naushad Solanki added that Gandhi blamed the Commission’s flawed voter lists for the party's loss in the 2017 Gujarat elections.

Gandhi also emphasized Gujarat's centrality to the BJP’s power base and said defeating the party there would send a strong national message. He further likened India to a temple, accusing the BJP-RSS combine of selectively distributing benefits—"prasad"—based on caste or influence, favoring elites like Adani and Ambani over marginalized communities.

Later in the day, Gandhi was scheduled to meet leaders from the cooperative sector and dairy farmers, particularly members of Gujarat’s milk unions. This interaction followed protests in Himmatnagar over milk procurement prices.

As part of its efforts to revitalize the party’s grassroots structure, the Congress recently appointed new heads for all district committees in Gujarat.