New Delhi: Speculation is rife in the Congress over the role of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as she remains a general secretary without portfolio in the new AICC team announced by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on December 23.
When Rahul Gandhi was party chief, he had made Priyanka in charge of half of Uttar Pradesh along with former leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2018 ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Then Priyanka campaigned across UP and also in other states.
In 2020 she was given the responsibility of the entire UP after Scindia joined the BJP. However, the 2022 assembly poll results were disappointing in UP as the party could win only 2 out of 403 assembly seats.
Priyanka owned up responsibility for the poll debacle and offered to resign but was asked by party high command to hold on.
Now, there is speculation in the party whether Priyanka would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections or be deployed as a national campaigner.
“Priyanka Gandhi is a national leader. There is always a huge demand for her to campaign. She campaigned extensively across the five states recently and her rallies were a hit among the voters. In 2019 national elections also she campaigned across the country and will certainly play that role ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” senior UP Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh told this channel.
According to party insiders, there is a demand from party workers that Priyanka should contest from Rae Bareli which her mother Sonia Gandhi represents in the Lok Sabha. However, Sonia may not contest in 2024 due to health reasons.
The same set of leaders has been demanding that Rahul Gandhi should contest from his traditional seat Amethi, which he lost in 2019. On his part, Rahul is committed to his current seat Wayanad in Kerala but the decision on Amethi is yet to be taken, said party insiders.
Before Priyanka joined active politics in 2018, she had been supervising the two VIP parliamentary seats of her mother Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and brother Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).
There has been a demand that Priyanka should contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi against PM Narendra Modi to deliver a strong message. She was instrumental behind the elevation of Varanasi leader Ajay Rai as the new UP unit chief.
“The entire UP Congress would work hard to ensure her victory if she chooses to contest,” said Rai, who had contested against Modi in 2014 national elections.
Akhilesh Pratap Singh said the decision on the probable seats of either Rahul and Priyanka would be made by the Gandhi family itself.
As Priyanka’s women-centric campaigns were applauded within the party in the state polls like Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, a focused drive may be launched nationwide ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to woo half of the electorate, said party insiders.
Avinash Pande, who has replaced Priyanka Gandhi as AICC in charge of UP, said he would give his best to the new responsibility.
“I resolve to build upon Priyanka Gandhi’s legacy as in charge of UP. I will make most of the authority invested in my position and the mandate given to me,” Pande told this channel.
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