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Updated: Oct 10, 2019 00:18 IST

Ending speculation that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will stay away from campaigning in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, party leaders confirmed on Wednesday that he will campaign in Mumbai on October 13.

Leaders from the state unit in Maharashtra said that Gandhi will also campaign on October 15 in the state, but a place is yet to be announced. “The state unit is proposing the names of probable places and an announcement will be made shortly,” said a leader, who is also set to contest in the upcoming elections.

The Congress had been under fire from the BJP and the Shiv Sena with the two parties targeting Gandhi for not showing up yet for the poll campaign.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hit out at the opposition, particularly the Congress, saying they have accepted defeat ahead of the Assembly polls as seen by Gandhi’s absence from the poll campaign.

“They are already in defeatist frame of mind. I read in newspapers that Rahul Gandhi is in Bangkok,” Fadnavis said at a rally at Ner in Dhule district of north Maharashtra, according to PTI.

Addressing a rally in Ahmednagar district, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray spoke in the same vein as Fadnavis. “Congress leaders in Maharashtra should accept the defeat and go home instead of contesting the assembly elections. Their leader (Rahul Gandhi) has gone to Bangkok,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress’ Gujarat in-charge Rajeev Satav said that Gandhi will be in Surat on Thursday to appear at the magisterial court in a defamation case for his statement during the Lok Sabha poll campaign that all thieves are named Modi.

“He will personally appear in Surat and then in Ahmedabad on October 11 in connection with another court case,” said Satav.

There had been speculations that Gandhi will give the campaigns a miss after reports emerged that he had flown to Cambodia on October 5. Gandhi has not taken part of decisions for the party’s campaigns or ticket distributions in these states.

Maharashtra and Haryana will go to the elections on October 21.