On day of her political plunge, Rahul Gandhi gives up on Priyanka Vadra

New Delhi: Eighteen days after becoming Congress general secretary and on the day she took the political plunge by leading a rally in Lucknow, her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi seems to have little hope on Priyanka Vadra changing the party’s fortunes in UP.

In the middle of a roadshow after the rally, Rahul accepted that Priyanka, who is general secretary for east UP, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who leads the charge as general secretary of west UP, would not be able to do much in the 2019 general elections.

Conceding that Rahul Gandhi himself does not expect much from the Priyanka factor, he said, “We will play on front foot not on back foot. Obviously, the aim is Lok Sabha polls, but I have told Priyanka and Scindia that the bigger aim is to win UP in 2022.”

On February 8, at her first official meeting at the party’s 24 Akbar Road headquarters, Rahul had said he did not expect “miracles” from her and Scindia in just two months. The Congress chief, however, also said the two must not feel any pressure. Priyanka was attending a meeting of general secretaries and state incharges.

The newly-appointed general secretary of Congress kicked off her party’s bid for 2019 polls in Lucknow on Monday. She was accompanied by her brother.
Elsewhere, her husband Robert Vadra faced relentless grilling by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Vadra faces cases pertaining to undisclosed overseas properties which could also be connected to kickbacks in deals involving arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

 Monday also saw Priyanka unveiling her Twitter account just ahead of the general elections.

Priyanka has been entrusted with the task of Congress’s revival in eastern Uttar Pradesh where the party was once strong. Phulpur was the Lok Sabha constituency of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru while erstwhile Allahabad, now Prayagraj, is the family home of the Nehru family.

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