Rahul Gandhi to visit TN in October for ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ student interaction

Chennai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to tour Tamil Nadu in the first week of October for a student interaction under the party’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” initiative, state Congress leaders said after a planning meeting in Chennai.

The programme, designed to let college students speak directly with Gandhi and raise issues affecting them, forms part of the Congress’s early outreach as it begins preparing for the 2029 Lok Sabha election.

Tamil Nadu Congress president Manickam Tagore chaired a meeting of party leaders at the headquarters, Sathyamurthy Bhavan, where the broad framework for the visit was discussed.

Leaders present agreed to hold the student discussion in the first week of October, but stopped short of fixing the date or venue, which are yet to be announced.

The colleges that will be invited to participate have also not been named.

State leaders will now decide how students are to be selected, how many can attend and what format the interaction will follow.

Details of Gandhi’s full itinerary in Tamil Nadu have not been made public, and it is not known whether he will address any other public meetings during the trip.

No agenda has been released for the Chennai interaction, leaving open which topics will be discussed and how much time will be devoted to questions from students.

“Chhatron Ki Goonj” is a pan-India outreach focused on conversations with students, and the proposed Tamil Nadu event would extend that engagement to college campuses in a state where the Congress is trying to rebuild its connect with young voters ahead of the next general election.

Party leaders are expected to issue further details once logistics including venue, participant numbers and the mode of selection are finalised.

For the Congress, the session offers a chance to hear directly from students as it maps its political strategy for 2029; for those who attend, it will be an opportunity to put their concerns to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

(Inputs from IANS)