'Hain Taiyaar Hum': Congress to kickstart 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign in Nagpur

India's principal opposition party, the Indian National Congress, is set to kickstart its campaign for next year's Lok Sabha elections with a mega rally themed 'Hain Taiyaar Hum' in Nagpur on 28 December—the party's 139th foundation day.

"It will be a historic moment for the people of the country," Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said, addressing a press conference at the venue of the event on Wednesday.

Sources claimed that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will address the rally. Leaders from various states have already reached Nagpur to take part in the rally.

Hectic preparations are underway for the mega rally at Dighori in Nagpur, where lakhs of people and Congress workers will attend the event, as per party leaders.

"Whenever the country faced trouble, the Congress pitched in and a big change took place in the country," Patole told reporters at the venue of the event. And now, history will repeat itself in Nagpur, he promised.

The mega event assumes special significance as it will be held in Nagpur, where the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) headquarters and the Deekshabhoomi, the historic place where Dr B.R. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, are both located.

"The rally, with the theme 'Hain Taiyaar Hum' (we are ready), will send a good message throughout the country. The Congress will sound the bugle for the Lok Sabha polls due next year," party MLA from Nagpur Nitin Raut told PTI on Tuesday.

After the Emergency, Indira Gandhi held a public meeting in Nagpur and the Congress then won all the seats from Vidarbha, he said.

"History will repeat in Nagpur and a big parivartan (change) will take place in the country," the Congress leader said.

Patole also said that Rahul Gandhi will embark on the Bharat Nyay Yatra from Manipur in the east to Mumbai in western India from 14 January 2024. Congress MLA Raut said the party has chosen Nagpur for the rally due to its ideology and thinking.

On one hand, there is the RSS ideology; on the other hand is the ideology of the Constitution's architect, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, which is aligned with the ideology of the Congress, he said. The public will certainly go along with the slogan of the Congress and the rally will sound the bugle for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Raut added.

Maharashtra Congress working president and former cabinet minister Naseem Khan said the Congress has chosen the slogan of 'Hain Taiyaar Hum' to indicate its readiness to fight for the country's democracy. The Congress led a fight before 1947 for the country's independence and the Congress is now going to sound the bugle for the next fight to save democracy, he said.