Priyanka Gandhi says 'historic initiative' after giving tickets to 50 women, youth in UP polls

"Out of the total 125 candidates, 40 percent are women and 40 percent are the youth. With this historic initiative, we hope to bring in a new kind of politics in the state which has the real purpose of service to the people," the Congress leader said.

New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Thursday, announced that the first list of party candidates consisting of 125 names, will have 50 women which also includes Asha Singh, mother of Unnao rape victim, who will contest polls from the same constituency.

Apart from this, Ramraj Gond, who had spearheaded the Gond tribals’ legal battle over land in Umbha village in Sonbhadra, Poonam Pandey, an Asha worker who was allegedly roughed up by the police while trying to meet UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Shahjahanpur in November last year, and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, who was in jail in connection with the anti-CAA stir in the state, got tickets from Congress to contest the upcoming Assembly polls.

Gandhi also announced that Congress has given 40 percent reservation to women and 40 percent to youth for the distribution of tickets for UP elections.

"Out of the total 125 candidates, 40 percent are women and 40 percent are the youth. With this historic initiative, we hope to bring in a new kind of politics in the state which has the real purpose of service to the people," the Congress leader said.

Priyanka Gandhi asserted that Congress has given preference to those women to have struggled a lot in their lives and hence there are many women who are contesting polls for the first time, but Congress has given them tickets so that they get a platform to fight for women issues.

When asked if she is also going to contest polls in UP, she replied, "There was no base of Congress party in UP for past so many years. We established our unit in the state and started working on the ground for the last two and half years. Our main intention is to strengthen our organization in UP. I'm here for that and will continue to do my work. If my party would ask me to go and play another role in some other state, I am willing to do that as well. But my main intention is to strengthen my party in UP by raising the core issues in the state."

'She also hinted that if needed Congress is also willing to get into an alliance with other Opposition parties after polls for not letting BJP form a Government in UP.'

She also slammed those leaders who left Congress to join other parties ahead of polls saying that they have chosen to run away from the struggle.

The Congres leader asserted that it is a victory for her as after her party's initiative, now other parties are also being forced to raise issues pertaining to women ahead of the Assembly elections.