Shillong, January 30: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will kickstart the election campaign in Meghalaya on Tuesday with a musical festival showcasing the cultural diversity of state and also hold meeting with religious heads and chiefs of traditional institutions.
Election to the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly will be held on February 27.
Rahul will arrive on a two-day visit today and meet party workers at Jowai. On his return to the state capital, he will attend the peace music festival as the chief guest, a senior party leader said.
Five musical bands and two solo performers will showcase the state’s musical talent at the peace music festival which will be held at the polo ground.
The next day he will meet religious heads and heads of various traditional institutions in the state. “Rahul Gandhi is arriving tomorrow here… He will be meeting with religious heads for breakfast on January 31,” Meghalaya Congress working president and MP Vincent H Pala said.
He said heads of traditional institutions, believed to be the leaders of indigenous Khasi, Jaintia and Garo religions, besides chieftains from various Himas (states), will be part of the breakfast meeting apart from the leaders of Christian denominations, Hindu and Muslims.
Rahul will be campaigning in all the Khasi Jaintia and Garo Hills region in the state ahead of the elections, Pala said.
According to Census 2011, Christians constitute nearly 75 per cent of the population in this tribal state. The Hindus and Muslims constitute about 11 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively while the other religions constitute over 8 per cent.
Meghalaya has 18.3 lakh voters of which 42,843 are new voters for the February 27 Assembly elections.
The Congress has already announced in its first list the names of 56 candidates including Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and party chief C Lyngdoh.
With inputs from PTI