Mangaluru, (The Hindu): Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the first week of March, as part of his Assembly election campaign in the State.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, U.B. Venkatesh, general secretary, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and in-charge of Dakshina Kannada, said that Mr. Gandhi would tour all Assembly segments in the two districts in the special bus used in the campaign in Hyderabad-Karnataka region recently.

His tour would last about three or four days the dates of which are yet to be finalised. Dakshina Kannada is the land of the Congress and the party would win all eight Assembly segments in the two districts, he said.

Mr. Venkatesh said that the party would highlight its development works in the State under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramiah to counter the divisive communal agenda of the BJP. The BJP would not succeed in winning elections in the coastal belt through its communal-centric politics, he said and added that the policy and programmes of the Congress are inclusive and not divisive.

The party would continue to give a stable government in the State. The manifesto of the party would be conducive for the growth of Dakshina Kannada, he said.

Mr. Venkatesh said that party workers meetings in the gram panchayat limits would begin on Thursday and they would go on till this month-end.

He said that the party observers, Prasanna Kumar and Huchhappa, would hold a meeting in the party office here on February 17 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in connection with selecting candidates from the district for the coming elections. A list of tentative candidates would be submitted to the KPCC.

Harish Kumar, president, Dakshina Kannada Congress Committee, said that prices of pepper, arecanut and rubber have collapsed under the NDA rule in the country. At the same time, prices of essential commodities have soared, he added.