Click to play videoLucknow: For the first time in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Congress has introduced Priyanka Gandhi to the campaign trail. But she seems to be fighting to save her own family bastions in UP.
Priyanka Gandhi is not seen on the dusty roads of UP too often but whenever she does, a lot is expected of her. The daughter of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is in Rae Bareli on a three day-tour and she is already breathing hope in the party ranks.
“We have been waiting for Priyankaji. She has started a unique and hi-tech campaigning style which has been a success,” says a Congress worker Jaykanth Singh.
Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Rae Bareli RK Singh is sure about his party’s success. “The masses are with the Congress and there is no doubt about that,” he said confidently.
Priyanka and her bother Rahul extensively campaigned in Rae Bareli last summer when their mother Sonia Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha by-elections following her resignation over the office of profit issue.
Sonia won the by-poll by a record margin but the challenge this time is quite different.
Out of the 10 Assembly segments in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the Congress has only two Assembly seats. In spite of the region being a Nehru-Gandhi stronghold, the party did not perform well in the local body elections held last year.
Congress not just faces stiff opposition from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Rae Bareli and Amethi, internal party squabbles have also dented the party's electoral fortunes.
However, Congress Spokesperson Dwejendra Tripathi refuses to accept the rift in the party.
“The visit has been a boost for the Congress workers. People want to vote in favour of the Gandhi family. Priyankaji's visit is a representation of the entire Gandhi family,” he said.
For the Congress it is a do or die battle in Uttar Pradesh. It is a party, which has not tasted power in Lucknow for 19 long years. Perhaps, for the first time Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have moved out of their strongholds, Rae Bareli and Amethi, to ensure the party's revival in the state.
So, while mother and son are making sure the party does well in other parts of the state, daughter Priyanka is ensuring that victory does not elude Congress in the traditional Nehru-Gandhi strongholds.
(With inputs from Neha Seth in Amethi)
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