Congress President Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi will hold a joint Press Briefing on February 4 in Lucknow, a state INC functionary told media. This will be the first joint presser of the siblings as the party’s office bearers. Congress ever since being dropped by the SP-BSP alliance, has intensified its strategies and efforts in the state that sends 80 parliamentarians to the Lower House.
However, Siblings way back in 2004 had made a maiden joint press briefing, when Priyanka Gandhi introduced Rahul and announced his candidature from Amethi. “This time, Rahul will be introducing his sister,” a top UP Congress leader told.
Congress in a major move appointed Priyanka Gandhi as the General Secretary of the party to look after affairs in the Eastern Uttar Pradesh. This is the first time she will be seen in a major role in the party’s organisational hierarchy. She is expected to take formal charge from the first week of next month.
Siblings – Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are also expected to visit the ‘Kumbh Mela’ in Prayagraj and is expected to participate in the ongoing religious event on Basant Panchami on February 10 which incidentally marks one of the shahi snans. This will be followed by a roadshow by the brother-sister duo.
Banking on the resounding victories in Hindi Heartland states – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where soft Hindutva by the party was seen as one of the big reasons for the electoral success, the party is expected to adopt on the same lines in the Uttar Pradesh where caste and religion makes a heavy dent on electoral patterns.
Sources in the party confirmed that even though Priyanka’s entry has made both SP and BSP take note of the changing political situation in Congress, the siblings are not inclined to field candidates opposite Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav.
Also, with Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into Politics, workers have also pitched a demand to make it ‘Priyanka Gandhi v/s Narendra Modi’ from Varanasi. Politics heat up in UP; Congress workers want Priyanka Gandhi to take on PM Modi in Varanasi in LS Polls.
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