Kharge, Rahul in Assam: Discussions held on party’s future plans and strategy

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, during their day-long visit to Assam on July 16, met with the party's state unit functionaries and discussed plans to strengthen the organisation. The meeting also focused on preparing a roadmap for the future, a Congress spokesperson said.

Congress' state unit president Gaurav Gogoi said the party leaders in the meeting delved into ways of strengthening the organisation.

“Honoured to welcome Congress President Shri @kharge ji and Leader of the Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi ji to Guwahati today for a crucial meeting with the Assam Congress leadership,” Gogoi said in a post on X.

"Together with members of the Political Affairs Committee, PCC office bearers, MPs, MLAs, Frontal Heads, and DCC Presidents, we held an in-depth discussion on strengthening the organisation and preparing for the challenges ahead," he added, sharing photographs of the closed-door meeting on social media.

A party spokesperson said Kharge and Gandhi also met members of "tribal communities and people facing persecution, threats of displacement and other forms of harassment" at a hotel near the airport, where the two leaders had their first round of meetings during the day.

Both leaders will attend another meeting with party functionaries at Chaygaon -- about 40 km from Guwahati later in the afternoon.

They were earlier received at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport by the party's state leaders, who greeted them with traditional Assamese scarf 'gamosas'.

This is the first visit of the party's top leaders since Gogoi took over as the state president, ahead of next year's assembly election.

They are scheduled to leave Guwahati in the evening.