Jaipur: The political scenario in the state is heating up with Congress president Rahul Gandhi reaching here for a ‘roadshow’ to kick-start his party’s poll campaign on Saturday.Chief minister Vasundhara Raje is already on a tour of 165 assembly constituencies. Gandhi is scheduled to reach here by a regular Air India flight at 12.55pm and return by an Indigo flight at 7.35pm, sources said.He will launch the party’s campaign for the assembly elections due in December and address Congress delegates from across the state at city’s Ramlila Maidan after the ‘roadshow’ from the airport to the venue via JLN Marg and Tonk Road.“The Congress president will travel in a specially designed bus through the city roads for around 12-13km to reach the venue where he will address party delegates from all districts. He will launch our poll campaign and give tips to Congressmen for winning the elections,” said Sachin Pilot, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president.Though there was no official confirmation by the Congress if Gandhi would visit any temple in the city, considering the solar eclipse from around 1.30pm to 5pm on Saturday, leaders from the ruling and the opposition parties exchanged biting remarks over the ‘temple politics’ of each other.At one of her rallies in Udaipur division, chief minister Raje remarked, “These people (Congressmen) used to target me for going to temples. Now, they too are doing the same. It is good that we have at least taught them to go to temples.”In response, Pilot said, “Gandhi was taught to visit temples by his great grandfather, the late Jawaharlal Nehru, and grandmother, the late Indira Gandhi. Raje should tell who taught her to demolish the temples?” Pilot was referring to over 300 temples demolished by the Raje government to make way for the Metro and widen existing roads in Jaipur and elsewhere. “Who taught Raje to demolish historic and centuries-old temples? People in the state now know this fact very well that she goes to temples when she faces a political challenge. Otherwise, she has no hesitation in ordering demolitions,” he said.Hitting back at the CM for her remark that Gandhi was coming here on a day of solar eclipse and ‘amavasya’ (new moon day), which are considered inauspicious in Hindu tradition, Pilot said, “All days are auspicious. The day BJP is uprooted will be the most auspicious day. BJP is fearing the Congress president’s visit, so its leaders are making such remarks.”Along with senior Congress leaders such as AICC general secretaries Ashok Gehlot, Avinash Pande and C P Joshi, Polit took stock of the preparations at the Ramlila Maidan in the evening. Gehlot said Raje had no right to say that Gandhi was following BJP in visiting temples to start poll campaigns. “She has the right to talk. She has destroyed Rajasthan and blocked its development. I am surprised how she can still seek votes,” he said, “She should worry about herself instead of commenting on Gandhi’s timing. She is already ‘eclipsed’ the way Modiji (PM) has been treating her for the past four years. Rajasthan had to suffer because of her (bitter) relations with the PM,” he said.PCC president Pilot said that Raje was making statements on “non-issues” to divert people’s attention and to evade the real questions that were being asked to her. “BJP is nervous and has not yet overcome the shock of the defeat it tasted in the bypolls,” Pilot said.Box: Rahul’s schedule:Arrival at airport: 12.55pmExit from airport: 1.25pmArrival at Ramlila Maidan: 4.30pmBack to airport: 6.25pmDeparture to Delhi: 7.35pmBox: Poster BattlesThe state Congress remains divided into different camps as was visible in the posters that were put up at different places in the city to welcome AICC president Rahul Gandhi. Posters put up by Ashok Gehlot supporters, including ex-MP Mahesh Joshi, had no picture of PCC chief Sachin Pilot. Similarly, posters by Pilot supporters did not carry the picture of Gehlot.

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