LUCKNOW: After sounding the poll bugle from Ahmedabad on Tuesday, newly-appointed AICC general secretary and in-charge eastern UP, Priyanka Gandhi, is likely to take the water route to reach the holy city of Lord Shiva Varanasi on Thursday. Priyanka is expected to sail a 100-km stretch of Ganga on a steamer from Prayagraj to reach Kashi.
According to informed sources, Priyanka has chosen to commence her state tour ahead of elections from Prayagraj, the birthplace of her great grandfather and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a
tribute to at Anand Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru’s the erstwhile residence which has been turned into a museum. From Prayagraj, the Congress leader is likely to sail to PM Narendra Modi’s turf.
By taking the Ganges route from Allahabad to Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi will touch a
number of eastern UP seats like Mirzapur. Notably, Priyanka Gandhi has been made in-charge of the state’s eastern belt which comprises 42 seats, constituting around 53 per cent of the total 80 parliamentary seats of UP.
Taking a cue from brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka is also likely to resort to soft hindutva by visiting temples like the Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi and the Goddess Vindhyavasini
in Mirzapur.
After hitting the ground in eastern Up, the Congress general secretary is likely to camping in Lucknow for a few days to take stock of the poll preparations. She may also finalise the names of the candidates for the remaining seats. At the moment, the Congress has announced 11 candidates from Uttar Pradesh and some
more names are expected to be announced shortly.
Earlier, AICC general secretary and in-charge of UP West, Jyotiraditya Scindhia had announced that Congress might spare two seats for the SP-BSP alliance to reciprocate their gesture by which the
alliance left two seats of Amethi and Raebareli.
However, BSP Chief Mayawati in a statement issued on Tuesday made it clear that there would be no alliance of any kind with Congress in any of the states. Also, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav had said that
it was probably too late to take on Congress along with the alliance.