Mumbai, Feb 18 (IANS): Congress President Rahul Gandhi will launch the national campaign for the coming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra with a mega rally in Dhule, a traditional party bastion, on March 1, an official said here on Monday.

Gandhi will begin the campaign at 3 p.m. in the presence of other top leaders.

The same day, as per a tentative schedule, he may even visit Mumbai and address a rally here.

The UPA alliance in Maharashtra will set the ball rolling for the parliamentary elections by its first joint poll campaign rally in Nanded on Wednesday, said state party chief Ashok Chavan.

The rally will see the participation of UPA constituents including the Nationalist Congress Party, the PRP and other parties and their top leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, Sharad Pawar and Jogendra Kawade.

This will be followed by another UPA rally to be hosted by the NCP's Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde, in his home town of Parli, Beed, on Saturday.

According to party sources, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi is also likely to address some rallies in the state, although the details are yet to be finalised.

Dhule and Nanded are traditional Congress bastions in Northern Maharashtra and the Marathwada regions of the state, with a fair sprinkling of minorities, tribals, Dalits and other sections of population.