Kolkata: Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the city during Durga Puja has been called off due to his preoccupation with the campaign for elections in five states, a senior state Congress leader said on Tuesday.
The AICC chief, who had asked the party's Bengal unit to strengthen the organisation ahead of the crucial 2019 elections, was proposed to pay a visit to Kolkata on Ashtami (eighth) day of Durga puja on Wednesday.
“It was a tentative visit his schedule was not finalised. But now elections for five states have been announced and he is too preoccupied with the campaign in those states. So his visit to Kolkata has been called off for the time being,” state Congress president Somen Mitra said.
Gandhi had asked the party's newly appointed West Bengal unit to strengthen the organisation in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. It was during this meeting last month that the proposal for Gandhi's visit to Bengal during Durga Puja — the biggest festival of Bengal — came up, according to state Congress sources.
Last month, Somen Mitra was made West Bengal's PCC president replacing Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary.