Congress president Rahul Gandhi at Somnath Temple in Gujarat
Days after Gujarat election results, in which the Congress performed its best in 35 years, the party's new president Rahul Gandhi offered prayers at the Somnath temple in Gir Somnath district, some 420 km from the state capital Gandhinagar. Later in the day, he will meet the party's state leaders to review and analyse how his party fared in the Gujarat assembly elections.
During his three-day visit to the state, Mr Gandhi will also meet all the newly-elected legislatures and party workers from across the state to review the election results. He will meet leaders from North, Central, Saurashtra and South Zone during the day before heading to the Gujarat University Convention Hall at GNBC ground in Ahmedabad where a party workers' meet has been arranged.
Congress along with its allies won 80 seats and restricted PM Modi's party to 99 seats in a state it considers its fortress. Only on Friday the
BJP took the number to 100 after it got the support of an independent legislator, Ratansinh Rathod, who was expelled by the Congress.
The Congress will scrutinise in detail why it failed to dislodge the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has come to power in the state for the fifth consecutive term, and discuss the road ahead for the party.
Rahul Gandhi, who was voted as the party President unopposed,
took over the reins of the party from his mother Sonia Gandhi and assumed office on December 16, two days after the Gujarat elections got over.