Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will kick off the Congress’s campaign for the year-end Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls from Jabalpur on Monday after praying at the banks of the Narmada river, a party leader said. Jabalpur is at the centre of the state’s Mahakoshal region, which has a sizable number of tribal voters. In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress won 11 of the 13 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats in the eight-district division, with the remaining two bagged by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“Priyanka ji will launch the party’s campaign and Sankalp 2023 by addressing a public meeting at Shahid Smarak at around 11.15 am. She will land here at around 10:30am and head to Gwarighat to pray to Narmada river,” Jabalpur mayor and Congress’ city chief Jagat Bahadur Singh earlier told PTI.

En route to the rally venue eight kilometres away, she will garland a statue of Rani Durgavati, who attained martyrdom fighting the Mughals, he said, adding the rally will be attended by at least two lakh persons.

“People in Mahakoshal area or Jabalpur division having eight districts feel neglected by the BJP. We did well (last time) in the area. This time around we are going to sweep the polls,” he claimed.