NEW DELHI: Amid continuing reverberations from Rahul Gandhi’s girl-students rally in Pune, the Congress youth outreach “Chhatron ki Goonj” is set to move to another BJP stronghold, the education hub of Madhya Pradesh.Sources said the next episode of “chhatron ki goonj” will be held in Indore on Sep 12.In what is a carefully crafted strategy to challenge the ruling party with the “angry demographic” that led the Jantar Mantar protest, Congress has picked the venue owing to the fact that there has been a history of paper leaks in the state including the infamous examination scandal “Vyapam scam”. Besides, the opposition has won two by-elections “against the might of the state”, the latest being Datia assembly last month.Sources said the party considered a few cities, including in the Congress-ruled states in the south, but then decided on Indore in a bid to continue pressuring the BJP.While the city is a students’ hub and also has a fair share of urban and middle-class population, it has been in the negative spotlight for repeated infrastructural crises – the most sensational being 24 deaths from consuming sewage contaminated water in February 2026. A smart city road, said to be constructed at the cost of Rs 40 crore, collapsed recently, hogging the headlines. Also, there have been allegations of corruption targeting the CM.The “chhatron ki goonj” started in Kota in Rajasthan (June) and then moved to Dehradun (July) and then Prayagraj (August), focusing on examination and employment issues. But in Pune last month, Rahul changed tack when he made it an exclusive event for girls, and his interactive speech around gender justice and “manusmriti” received favourable feedback besides triggering the opponent BJP.
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The “CKG” strategists are chuffed by the reaction and said the programme will move across the nation with the objective of becoming a “brand” that the youth will associate with.After Indore, the party may choose a city in any of the Congress-ruled states in the south to cover a key region with a strong youth population.Recently, the Congress Working Committee decided that “CKG” will be held in 800 cities and towns – which means one in every district. Sources said Rahul may personally attend around 20 of them, while the rest will become a vehicle for the party to woo the youth.
