Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi will be in Nagpur to take part in the concluding function of the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Babasaheb Ambedkar on April 11 with a mammoth rally also having been lined up on the occasion.
Several top leaders of the party, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, members of the party's working committee and chief minsters of Congress-ruled states are likely to attend the function. Sharing details of the Gandhis' itinerary, Congress leaders said Sonia and Rahul will arrive on a special flight from New Delhi at 3.30 PM on Monday and directly head to the historic 'Deekshabhoomi' -- where Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism in 1956 -- to pay homage to the architect of the Indian Constitution.
Thereafter, they will proceed to the state guesthouse - Ravi Bhawan Colleges - and meet leaders from Maharashtra, said Nagpur city and district Congress chief Vikas Thakre. At 5.20 PM, they will drive down to Kasturchand Park where the party is expecting a record turnout of people.
Over 15 senior functionaries of AICC and members of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and the party's local unit are working to mobilise support for the function. After the rally, Sonia and the other leaders will return to New Delhi at 7:30 PM on the same day while Rahul will stay back and proceed to Mumbai the next morning.
The district administration and local police are also keeping an eye even as preparations are on in full swing for the event which is being organised by the AICC. A Special Protection Group (SPG) team which has been camping here for the last two days today visited the Deekshabhoomi and Kasturchand Park to finalise the security arrangements.
All Congress MPs and MLAs from Maharashtra will also attend the event along with senior functionaries of AICC and the Congress Working Committee, Thakre said.
