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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was appointed Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East on 23 January – a decision that has been termed a masterstroke, reflecting the party's intent to go the whole hog in the politically crucial state.
The appointment also marked Priyanka's official entry into politics, and is expected to boost the morale of party workers in the state which sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi also appointed senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia as AICC general secretary for Uttar Pradesh West.
Newly-appointed Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will hit the campaign trail with brother and party President Rahul Gandhi in battleground Uttar Pradesh with a roadshow in Lucknow on 11 February.
Both the Gandhis along with general secretary for west Uttar Pradesh Jyotiraditya Scindia will lead the roadshow from Lucknow airport to the state Congress office where they will interact with the media.
Priyanka Gandhi and Scindia will then interact with state leaders and party workers on 12, 13 and 14 February, to chalk the strategies for the Lok Sabha elections in the country's most populous state which sends 80 members to parliament.
The Congress, not a part of Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in UP, has decided to go it alone but also keep the door open for prospective allies. The party could win only two seats in the state in the 2014 general elections.
Newly appointed Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will have her hands full during her four-day visit to Lucknow as she will meet senior leaders and office bearers of the party.
This will be Priyanka Gandhi's maiden visit to Uttar Pradesh after she formally entered politics last month.
The party in Uttar Pradesh is seeing the visit as the virtual launch of the Congress campaign in the state, ahead of the coming Lok Sabha elections.
In-charge of 42 of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi will meet senior leaders and office bearers of the party constituency-wise during her visit till 14 February, Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi told PTI.
Lists of leaders, including former MPs, MLAs and other people’s representatives, have been sought from the district unit presidents. Each constituency is being allotted a different time to meet the senior leadership, during which all issues related to their areas will be discussed in detail, he said.
Preparations are underway to accord a grand welcome to the three leaders on their arrival, Awasthi said.
He added that Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Scindia are likely to garland statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi on their way to the party office.
Rahul Gandhi is likely to return the same day after a meeting with the state leaders, he added.
The UPCC office is being spruced up and new hoardings have come up all the way from the airport, welcoming Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Scindia.
A team of Special Protection Group (SPG) also visited the UPCC headquarters on Thursday and met senior Congress leaders to make necessary security arrangements ahead of the visit, party sources said.
Enthused by the appointment of new leaders to steer them into the coming Lok Sabha election, Congress workers have planned a grand welcome for the party's general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, when she arrives in the state capital on Monday.
Congress workers, led by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Raj Babbar, have made elaborate arrangements to welcome their leaders. Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia will arrive at the Lucknow airport and will pass through the main areas of the state capital to reach the Nehru Bhawan office of the UPCC.
They will be welcomed by party workers and leaders at nearly 37 points in the city between the airport and the UPCC office, Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi told PTI. Before reaching the Congress office, the Congress leaders are expected to garland the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on the route.
GS Incharge UP East, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's message inviting the people of UP to join her as equal partners in a new kind of politics. #NayiUmeedNayaDeshhttps://t.co/u42l3JKBTQ
— Congress (@INCIndia) February 10, 2019
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address a meeting of the All India Congress Seva Dal in Rajasthan on 14 February, according to a statement released on Sunday.
The organisation will hold its 'Maha Adhiveshan' after 30 years and its volunteers will participate in the two-day event in Ajmer in Rajasthan on February 13-14, it said.
"The mega rally...will be one of the major highlights of the two-day Rashtriya Maha Adhiveshan. This rally will be addressed by the Congress President," it said.
"In this rally, the Congress President will guide Seva Dal members to build a strong Seva Dal to meet its organisational objectives," it said.
Many parallel conferences are being planned during the two days which include discussions on importance in imbibing Gandhian values such as truth, non-violence and tolerance; women safety and empowerment; and importance of the Constitution and constitutional institutions for good governance.
लखनऊ आ रहा हूँ|
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 11, 2019
प्रियंका गांधी वाड्रा जी और ज्योतिरादित्य सिंधिया जी साथ होंगे|
दोपहर करीब 12 बजे, लखनऊ के हवाई अड्डे से पार्टी मुख्यालय तक रोड-शो का आयोजन किया गया है|
आप सभी से मिलने को उत्साहित हूँ| pic.twitter.com/H0yuBQvthM
Congress’ decision to unleash Priyanka Gandhi, widely regarded as the party’s ‘brahmastra’, is a clear signal that eastern UP will be the main battlefield in 2019.
This is the turf of the BJP’s big guns. Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi lies here. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has reigned over Gorakhpur for five terms.
Few doubt Priyanka’s capacity to alter the texture of an election campaign. She first demonstrated her skill in 1998 when she stole Bellary from under Sushma Swaraj’s nose, to help her mother Sonia Gandhi enter Parliament for the first time.
Read the full story here.
Uttar Pradesh Minister SN Singh on Monday, 11 February, said that BJP sees Priyanka Gandhi’s maiden roadshow in the state as a case of ‘thieves making noise’ ahead of polls.
“They're calling this a roadshow, but BJP sees this as 'chor machaye shor'. The Gandhi-Vadra family is out on bail. They can't hold a roadshow but a 'chor show' (sic). People of UP, especially Lucknow, will come to see corrupt faces of those who looted Rs 12 lakh crore of this nation,” Singh said, according to ANI.
#PriyankaGandhi लखनऊ में रोड शो करेंगीं. जिस रथ पर सवार होकर ये रोड शो होगा उसे देखकर क्या राजनीतिक मायने निकलते हैं. बता रहे हैं ग्राउंड जीरो से @vikrantdubeyvns
— Quint Hindi (@QuintHindi) February 11, 2019
पढ़ें #LIVE अपडेट्स- https://t.co/4TGMI7Bctt pic.twitter.com/mHUXSm4L5P
#PriyankaGandhi को पूर्वी UP में प्रभार दिए जाने पर कांग्रेसी युवा क्या सोचते हैं? @IncNiku से बात की @vikrantdubeyvns ने@TheQuint
— Quint Hindi (@QuintHindi) February 11, 2019
पढ़ें #LIVE अपडेट्स- https://t.co/4TGMI7Bctt pic.twitter.com/JU13oT5Voj
#Lucknow की सड़कों पर #PriyankaGandhi के रोड शो के पहले कैसा माहौल है? क्विंट के रिपोर्टर @vikrantdubeyvns की ग्राउंड कवरेज@TheQuint
— Quint Hindi (@QuintHindi) February 11, 2019
पढ़ें #LIVE अपडेट्स- https://t.co/4TGMI7Bctt pic.twitter.com/8cfqMnBb9x
#PriyankaUPRoadshow | #PriyankaGandhi के लखनऊ रोड शो में शामिल होने रायबरेली से पहुंची हैं ये महिलाएं, कहती हैं- "प्रियंका गांधी की मदद के लिए यहां पहुंची हैं" | @vikrantdubeyvns @TheQuint
— Quint Hindi (@QuintHindi) February 11, 2019
पढ़ें #LIVE अपडेट्स- https://t.co/4TGMI7Bctt pic.twitter.com/f8dAtNfHB5
जन जन की यही पुकार,
— Jyotiraditya Scindia (@JM_Scindia) February 11, 2019
अब अलविदा जुमला सरकार।#NayiUmeedNayaDesh pic.twitter.com/wRlzqRzLEQ
Diamonds are forever, so is @priyankagandhi Lucknow Welcomes the Kohinoor!
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) February 11, 2019
लखनऊ की धरती से आज कांग्रेस पार्टी के समर्थन में एक नयी हुंकार उठी है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 11, 2019
उत्तरप्रदेश वासियों द्वारा, हमारे लिये दिखाया गया प्यार और विश्वास मैं अपने दिल में बसा कर लौट रहा हूँ| #NayiUmeedNayaDesh pic.twitter.com/XGdN5i8mNF
“Better late than never,” Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said on Monday described the entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into politics.
While speaking at the venue of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's fast in New Delhi, he added “the people expected her to come sooner. Der aaye durust aaye (better late than never). People are seeing her like (her grandmother and former prime minister) Indira Gandhi. She has a soft behaviour and she talks well and the people in the party see her as a big asset,”
According to Kharge Priyanka will make Congress more powerful.
Rahul Gandhi said that Congress will not sit idle till it forms government and that it would “play on the front foot” in Uttar Pradesh.
Prashant Kishor on Monday said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra might not be able to "turn things around" for her party in the few months left for the Lok Sabha polls.
“Rahul Gandhi is the party president while Priyanka Vadra is among the many national general secretaries, but her entry will have an impact in the long run,” he said.
A day after making her debut in Uttar Pradesh's political arena as Congress's general secretary of east UP, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra got down to business, holding strategy sessions to script her party's victory in the upcoming parliamentary polls.
The party office buzzed with activity as enthusiastic Congress workers gathered outside the UPCC building, even before she returned from an overnight stay in Jaipur.
Immediately after reached the party office, she met with senior leaders and office bearers of Lucknow, Mohanlalganj, Prayagraj, Ambedkar Nagar, Sitapur, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Bahraich, Phulpur and Ayodhya Lok Sabha constituencies to galvanise the party's preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In an adjoining room, the newly-appointed Congress general secretary in-charge of western UP, Jyotiraditya Scinda, held deliberations with leaders from the constituencies he has been asked to groom.
“We’re formulating strategy for the road ahead based on regional issues. We’re working on the process of strengthening the organisation, we analysed these issues for 12-13 hours today.”Jyotiraditya Scindia to ANI
After her meetings with party workers, Priyanka Gandhi is eyeing to make changes in organisation of Congress’ Uttar Pradesh unit.
“I am learning a lot about how to restructure the organisation and the changes needed to be made on the road ahead,” the newly-appointed UP East General Secretary of the party said.
“We have had a jumbo-sized Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee of over 500 members. We need to trim the size. I know how to do it and I will do it,” a party leader quoted Priyanka as saying at a meeting with workers in Lucknow, Hindustan Times reported.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday, 14 February, cancelled her scheduled press conference in the wake of the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, where at least 30 CRPF jawans were martyred.
"In the wake of the unfortunate Pulwama attack, I don't think it is appropriate to talk (about) politics right now," she said.
Addressing the families of the martyred jawans, she said, "In this hour of mourning, every Indian is with you."
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