Rahul Gandhi to begin his Gujarat tour with a visit to Somnath Temple today

Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Gujarat on Saturday, the first time after the assembly polls results were announced in the state on Monday. His three-day trip will begin with the Somnath Temple in Gir Somnath district, some 420 km from the state capital Gandhinagar. After this, Rahul will fly to Ahmedabad to hold a meeting of party leaders and candidates who lost the elections.

The Congress chief will talk to leaders from South Gujarat, North Gujarat, Central Gujarat and the Saurashtra-Kutch region and ascertain the reasons behind the party’s defeat, though the party had improved its performance over 2012 elections.

Out of 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 99, Congress won 77 and others won seven seats. BJP’s vote share in the state increased from 47.9 per cent (2012) to 49.1 per cent. Though, it is a huge comedown if one compares it with the 59.1 per cent share it got in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. On the other hand, the Rahul Gandhi-led party improved its performance and its vote share increased from 38.9 per cent (2012) to 41.4 per cent.

Rahul had on Friday chaired a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), his first after taking over as Congress president. While addressing the media after the meet, Rahul said it was disappointing that the party lost in Gujarat but he was pleased to see that the Congress fought hatred and anger with respect, love and courage. “At every step, they were trying to polarise. Our party played a very positive role in keeping everybody together,” he added.

Rahul took over the chairmanship of the Congress from his mother Sonia Gandhi on December 16 after being unanimously elected to the post.