LUCKNOW: In order to give a push to the revival plans of Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, party general secretary and eastern UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has decided to make Lucknow her base and stay here for longer durations to shore up party’s prospects in future.
As a result, she is on a look-out for accommodation in Lucknow.
As per party insiders, away from the media glare, during her visit to Lucknow to lead her party’s silent peace march on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Priyanka visited two properties in posh Gokhle Marg and Gomti Nagar.
The Gokhle Marg property belongs to former MP Sheila Kaul, the maternal aunt of Indira Gandhi.
The property is currently lying vacant as Shiela Kaul is no more and her daughter Deepa Kaul doesn’t live here. The house that belonged to Kaul has a banyan tree planted there by Mahatma Gandhi.
Both the locations are being evaluated from a security point of view, considering Priyanka Gandhi is a SPG protectee.
Sheila Kaul’s property is closer to the state Congress headquarters. Notably, the Congress is planning to contest the 2022 state election projecting Priyanka as the party face.
In fact, Congress is on the brink of extinction in India’s most politically crucial state.
The party is gasping with just seven MLAs of which one — Rakesh Singh — is considered to be a rebel as his elder brother Dinesh Singh, an ex-Congress MLC, joined the BJP and had contested unsuccessfully against Sonia Gandhi.