NEW DELHI: With just two seats and a 2 per cent vote share, the Congress fell to its lowest ever tally in Uttar Pradesh under Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as general secretary in charge of the state. Her high voltage campaign and decision to give 40 per cent tickets to women candidates, failed to make a mark but party leaders say she should continue focusing on the state and stay put in order to revive the party.
Priyanka addressed over 160 rallies and over 40 roadshows in UP but she started focusing on the state towards the fag end of elections. A senior party leader said that if she would have started touring and focusing on UP a year and a half back, things would have been a little different.
She should keep focusing on UP and continue her connection with people and that will help the party in 2024, noted a Congress Rajya Sabha member.
“It is very disheartening that we have come to 2 per cent vote share in a state we ruled for several years but Priyanka should continue her work on the ground and focus on the state. She should make Lucknow as her base and stay here rather than making episodic visits ahead of elections," said a senior UP Congress leader.
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There was no denial that the party and Priyanka herself knew the party's fate in assembly elections and kept speaking that irrespective of results, she will stay put in the state. "We have just started the fight and we have to keep going with energy and strength," she told party workers, a day before the results.
Like brother Rahul Gandhi, many leaders questioned her choice of her core team which made many senior UP leaders feel insulted and uncomfortable. Besides several senior leaders, Priyanka's close aide Lalithesh Tripathi, RPN Singh, Jitender Prasada, and Anu Tandon left the party in the run-up to the assembly elections.
Her personal secretary Sandeep Singh and UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lalu have been blamed for giving her ground feedback that was far from true.
"She needs to get a good team who have knowledge about the UP and understand the state. It is a tough task to revive the Congress as the party base has completely eroded and the election trends show that our loyal voters have also shifted this time," said a former union minister.