Guj: Cong leaders take out foot march to Jagannath temple, seek blessings for victory in Assembly polls

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress leaders on Thursday held a foot march from the party headquarters to Lord Jagannath temple here to seek the deity's blessings for a thumping victory in the upcoming legislative Assembly elections to be held in December.

This was perhaps the first time that the Congress, which has been out of power in the state for nearly 27 years, took out such a 'yatra' from its office in Paldi area till the Lord Jagannath temple in Jamalpur ahead of the rath yatra on Friday.

To mark the occasion of the 145th rath yatra, Congress leaders carried a 145 kg laddoo and offered it at the temple after covering a distance of around 2 km.

"We will offer this laddoo weighing 145 kg to Lord Jagannath and seek his blessings for our victory in the upcoming election. We will also urge the deity to free the country from dictatorship," said Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor, while on his way to the temple.

Thakor was accompanied by Leader of Opposition in Assembly Sukhram Rathva and state Congress in-charge Raghu Sharma. While they were in a vehicle, which was carrying the laddoo, many other party leaders and workers reached the temple on foot.

The Gujarat Congress has set a target of winning at least 125 out of 182 seats in the upcoming elections, Sharma said.

"We will seek Lord Jagannath's blessings for peace, harmony and prosperity of the people of Gujarat. And, we will seek God's blessings to form the next government in the state, as people are unhappy (under BJP rule). We will pray and urge God to bless us with victory so that we can form a pro-people government," Sharma told reporters.