Announcing the initiative, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda said the campaign is designed to reconnect the organisation with voters and frame its electoral strategy around public opinion rather than internal deliberations. The drive will cover 1,090 district panchayat seats and 5,200 taluka panchayat seats, making it one of the party’s largest coordinated outreach efforts in recent years.
According to Chavda, separate action plans have been drawn up for rural regions, urban local bodies and major metropolitan centres. Congress leaders and workers will hold public meetings, listening sessions and dialogue platforms to gather feedback on local governance, civic services and administrative functioning.
The Congress has indicated that issues such as alleged corruption, financial mismanagement and irregularities in BJP-run municipalities will be central to the campaign. Party leaders allege that local bodies have failed to ensure accountability despite extensive use of public funds, a charge the BJP has consistently denied.
In urban areas, the party will roll out the ‘Congress Aapne Dwar’ (Congress at Your Door) programme across 17 major cities, under which workers will conduct door-to-door visits. These interactions will focus on everyday civic concerns including sanitation, drainage, road conditions, water supply and public health infrastructure.
A key feature of the initiative is the proposed ‘Janata no Manifesto’ (People’s Manifesto). For the first time, the Gujarat Congress plans to prepare its manifesto and a parallel vision document based entirely on public suggestions collected during the outreach. Party leaders said the document will reflect citizens’ priorities on governance, service delivery and transparency, moving away from conventional election-time घोषणाएँ.
To further amplify public grievances, the Congress will organise ‘Jan Akrosh Padyatras’ in all municipal corporation areas. These marches are intended to highlight alleged civic failures and provide a platform for residents to voice complaints. Additionally, Jan Samvad Manch programmes will be conducted ward-wise in all 17 cities to ensure sustained local-level engagement.
The party believes the combined approach of mass contact, door-to-door outreach and issue-based mobilisation will strengthen its organisational presence ahead of the local polls and help rebuild trust among urban and rural voters alike.
