NEW DELHI: Days after Congress announced the candidature of its former party chief Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli and K L Sharma from Amethi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would spearhead the Lok Sabha campaign for both seats, considered as the pocket boroughs of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
According to sources, a blueprint for the campaign has been laid out in a meeting of the top leaders on Sunday in the capital.
The poll campaign will kick off on Monday. With two weeks left for the election to both seats, the party has limited time for campaigning, said leaders. A senior leader said that Priyanka Gandhi will be staying at a guest house in Rae Bareli to oversee the campaigns.
“She will hold ‘nukkad sabhas’, meetings, and door-to-door campaign programs. From booth management to outreach, everything would be handled by her,” said a leader. With its INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party (SP) cadres extending support in the two seats, the party may also hold a joint rally of the bloc.
Though it was widely speculated that Priyanka would make her electoral debut in Rae Bareli, a constituency held by her mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades, the Congress party ended the suspense on Friday by fielding Rahul Gandhi from the seat. Sources said Priyanka chose to opt out of the poll fray in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, as she was keen to focus more on campaigning for party at the national level.
As Priyanka has been working in Amethi and Rae Bareli since 2004, she has established an emotional connection with the people in both constituencies, said a leader adding that she will be an effective campaigner for the seats. She will take charge of the digital and social media campaign.
Priyanka to not contest, focus on campaigning
When asked about Priyanka’s absence from the electoral fray, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Priyanka is campaigning vigorously and is single-handedly silencing Narendra Modi’s lies. The way she responded to the canards that the PM was spreading on the abolition of estate duty in March 1985 was a stinging rebuke. That is why she needed not to be limited to just one constituency. She is campaigning across the country. Today, Smriti Irani’s only identity is that she contests elections from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. Instead of making meaningless statements, Irani will now have to answer about local development,” he said.
