In poll campaign, Priyanka sets new milestones
NEW DELHI: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress’ general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh and a star campaigner in this round of assembly polls has addressed 167 rallies, public and street corner meetings since January 8, when the election commission announced the schedule for polls in five states. She has also virtually reached out to 340 of 403 constituencies in India’s most populous UP, to emerge as the party’s most active campaigner in this election, according to Congress insiders.
Priyanka Gandhi, who coined the party’s poll slogan for UP “Ladki hoon, ladh sakti hoon” and for the first time, piloted a 40% quota for women candidates in the state, has also campaigned in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. A senior leader added that she also held a virtual press conference in Manipur, the other poll-bound state. But it was UP that dominated her attention; she held 42 road shows in the state.
The people cited in the first instance said this is likely the most campaigning she has done.
In her initial years of politics, Priyanka Gandhi confined herself to the Gandhi family borough of Amethi and Raebareli. The past few years have seen her going outside UP to campaign for the party. In 2021, she went to Kerala and Tamil Nadu and this year, she visited Punjab thrice and Uttarakhand and Goa twice each.
The people cited in the first instance claimed this is a sign of Priyanka Gandhi’s expanding role in national politics even as she has stayed away from fighting elections or taking any government position. “He pan-national presence is much required, especially to counter a party such as the BJP,” pointed out a second senior leader.
With the third wave of the pandemic bringing in restrictions in large rallies for much of the campaign, Priyanka Gandhi shuffled between various platforms— online, road shows, street corner meetings as the Congress fought for relevance and rejuvenation in India’s most important state. She even opened up about her personal life in one of the virtual interactions and revealed that Sonia Gandhi calls her ‘Pri’ at home.
“But when mom is angry with me, she calls me Priyanka,” she quipped.
While her campaign remained intensive, the Congress faces an uphill challenge in Uttar Pradesh to reclaim its lost glory in the post-Mandal era . The Congress has not had a CM in UP since 1989 and as Hindi heartland politics entered the “Mandal and Kamandal” era, the Congress’ traditional vote bank has been divided between Samajwadi Party and BJP.
For nearly two decades, Priyanka Gandhi managed her mother’s constituencies, Raebareli and Amethi (Sonia Gandhi was an Amethi MP before Rahul Gandhi contested in 2004), promoted women self help groups and remained an ordinary member of the Congress. In the 2014 elections, her key responsibilities included campaign plans for Rahul. In 2019 January, she was appointed as a general secretary of the party
PRIYANKA HAS ADDRESSED 167 RALLIES, PUBLIC AND STREET CORNER MEETINGS SINCE JAN 8, WHEN EC ANNOUNCED POLL SCHEDULE