Former chief minister Ashok Chavan’s daughter Shrijaya has become the centre of attraction from the moment Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo yatra arrived in Maharashtra Sunday evening. Despite repeated whispers that Ashok was about to jump into the BJP camp, he led the Congress contingent that was organized to welcome Rahul, along with Shrijaya. A post-graduate in law, Shrijaya had kept herself away from active politics and was concentrating on taking care of family business affairs. However, in 2019, she led the Lok Sabha election campaigning for Ashok, who lost it. Not deterred, Shrijaya spared no efforts to mobilise public opinion for her father for the assembly elections later that year. Ashok won it hands down. Remaining away from the limelight so far, the launching of Shrijaya was noticed when her smiling face appeared on countless posters and hoardings. Her presence at Rahul’s reception was talk of the town. The yatra has been receiving a grand response, according to Congress workers, whose mood has heightened after a long interval. Rahul’s itinerary is more or less final. However, the participation by the Nationalist Congress party and the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray is still somewhat unclear since NCP president Sharad Pawar is not in robust health at the moment while Aaditya Thackeray is likely to join at some points, it is said.
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