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Sonia may visit Gujarat on May 1

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 25. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, is likely to pay a day-long visit to Gujarat on May 1, the second one in the recent past. She had earlier led an all-party delegation on a Gujarat tour soon after the outbreak of communal violence.

Ms. Gandhi was keen on visiting the State during the last break in the Parliament session but could not because of the ongoing violence. Later, she was busy with the preparations for the Congress Chief Ministers' conference in Guwahati.

The visit is aimed not only at touring the riot-affected areas and interacting with the victims but also providing a fillip to the relief work that has been undertaken by the Congress. According to sources close to the leadership, Ms. Gandhi has been repeatedly impressing upon her partymen in Gujarat to take the lead in the relief and rehabilitation efforts. She had directed the legal cell of the party to help the people after receiving reports that the victims were having difficulty registering their FIR's.

The Congress has also decided to send 30 observers to Gujarat to assess the situation both at the ground level as well as to test the level of the State units' preparations to face the elections. The observers have been chosen from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Picked out jointly by the AICC general secretary incharge of the State, Kamalnath, and Ahamad Patel, who has been recently appointed as political secretary to the Congress president, these observers met Ms. Gandhi last night and have been asked to assemble in Porbandar on May 1.

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