The newly appointed Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, Priyanka Gandhi returned to India on Monday. Soon after arriving in New Delhi, Priyanka met Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his Tughlaq Road residence and held key meetings eyeing party’s Mission UP.
Reportedly, Priyanka attended the meeting at Rahul’s residence with other Congres leaders and discussed the strategy for Uttar Pradesh-East as she has been made the general secretary for the region. Congress General Secretary for UP-West Jyotiraditya Scindia was also present during the meeting with Congress leaders. President of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Raj Babbar and party’s general secretary for Karnataka KC Venugopal were also present in the meeting. The meeting lasted for over 2 hours.
Sources: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meets Congress President Rahul Gandhi at his residence in Delhi. KC Venugopal and Jyotiraditya Scindia were also present in the meeting (file pic) pic.twitter.com/SdHaHH5sEZ
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019
Priyanka Gandhi entered into politics formally on January 24, she has been made in-charge of 43 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. When Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s name was announced as the Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh-East, she was on a private visit abroad. She returned to India on Sunday.
A Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh told ANI that many prominent party leaders of the state were telephoned during the meeting and were asked about the welfare measures and development works being carried out ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Noteworthy, The Congress got only 8.4 percent votes in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 general elections. Congress in 2014 General Elections managed to won only in Rae Bareli and Amethi – the home turf of Gandhis.
However, with Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party announcing an alliance with Congress, it will be a more difficult task for Priyanka as Congress had 22 Members of Parliament (MPs) with four seats in Eastern Uttar Pradesh in 2009. The situation became worst for the party after the 2017 state assembly elections, wherein, the party was reduced to just 2 seats.
According to sources, Congress has been discussing Priyanka’s Uttar Pradesh tour and preparing a blueprint for the same. Earlier, the party had prepared the schedule for 13 rallies, however, after Priyanka’s entry, the party is reworking on its plan.
Earlier Rahul Gandhi is expected to hold at least 12 rallies in Uttar Pradesh starting from Lucknow. The Congress chief is likely to address a rally in Lucknow after his Patna rally on February 3. The venues and dates for the other 11 rallies will be decided by the state leaders in the coming days. Congress ever since being dropped out of the BSP-SP alliance has intensified its hunt in the Uttar Pradesh- the state that sends 80 parliamentarians to the lower House of the Parliament.
As per Sources, the party is also working to draft a plan for 17 reserved seats and the Dalit majority seats along with that a strategy has been prepared for which the SC and ST department of the party has prepared a proposal for 4 rallies. Priyanka and Jyotiraditya
Scindia will give final approval to these plans.
Congress Insiders claimed Priyanka and Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh will again hold a meeting at Rahul Gandhi’s residence on Tuesday. Priyanka Gandhi is also likely to be present at a meeting of All India Congress Committee of general secretaries and in-charges of various states who have called for meeting on February 7. The meeting has been
called to plan the strategy and review the ongoing preparations for the Lok Sabha Polls 2019.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi will meet Pradesh Congress Committee Presidents on February 9 https://t.co/5mhZmmr2WB
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019
Rahul will conduct a meeting of state chiefs and Congress Legislature Party leaders on February 9 in the national capital.
Earlier, there were reports about Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi expected to hold a joint presser on February 4.