National

With Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress Eyes Potential Revival In UP

by TestHostEntry

Congress is in bad shape in Uttar Pradesh. The party had already been decimated by the SP and BSP even before the BJP came into the picture.

Sonia Gandhi had won from Bellary in Karnataka and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh in 1999 general elections. In Bellary, she even defeated the BJP’s firebrand leader Sushma Swaraj. Many political analysts who observed the contests, credited Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi, for her short and dynamic campaign that led to Sonia’s victory.

There’s a footage of an interview by NDTV which was shot after the culmination of 1999 general elections. Priyanka Gandhi, who was just 27 back then, was asked by the reporter, “Did you enjoy campaigning for your mother? That’s what turned the tide?” To which, Priyanka Gandhi sheepishly replied: “I don’t know, I think she (Sonia) probably turned the tide.”

In the same interview, when asked if the campaign was a dress rehearsal for her entry into the politics, Priyanka Gandhi said: “No, no. You will have to wait long, long time for that.”

For years after that interview, Priyanka Gandhi remained aloof from the active politics, although she campaigned for her mother and brother. Many inside and outside Congress, over all these years, have on several occasions requested the party to officially induct Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, but she chose to maintain distance. Since Rahul Gandhi was promoted to lead the party, and Congress perhaps wanted to keep Priyanka as their Trump Card for emergency situations, she was not given any leadership positions in the party. With Congress bringing in Priyanka for UP, the grand-old-party has unleashed its best reserved option, at a time when many even inside the Congress are questioning the leadership of Gandhis.

 

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

 

Before the 2019 general elections, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra formally entered politics, being appointed the Congress’ General Secretary in charge of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. Through these two years, Priyanka has visited Lucknow and other places in the state from Delhi. She has reportedly conducted organisational meetings and made strategies for the upcoming state elections during these two years. However, she did not entirely shift to Lucknow to stay in the state while she plays her role as the UP incharge of the party. She’s scheduled to start the party’s campaign for the UP elections next week.

After horrific pictures started coming in from Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday, and as farmers accused Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra of running his car over protestors, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was in Lucknow, announced that she will visit the families of the deceased the next day.

As per the developments narrated by her in a TV interview, she was about to go the PCC office in Lucknow on Sunday evening to address a press conference on this issue, when she was stopped outside her home by UP police. After she argued with Police and asked show her the order of her arrest or the sections under which she was put under arrest, she later snuck out walking through the pool of men and women officers. After walking for some distance, she got inside a car of her colleagues and decided to directly visit Lakhimpur Kheri in the night.

 

Throughout the night, the Gandhi scioness gave multiple slips to the state police and her own CRPF security personnel on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, before she was arrested by the UP Police in Sitapur around 5 AM on Monday.

Priyanka Gandhi and MP Deepender Hooda was pushed and manhandled by the police during their arrest, the Congress accused while sharing videos of their arrest.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with her colleagues, was reportedly taken to PAC guest house in Sitapur where they have been kept till the time of this article being written. A video of Priyanka cleaning the room of guest house with a broom has been shared widely on social media platforms.

The social media was abuzz as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tried to reach Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday night. Her videos of altercations with police have also been shared widely, with thousands of people watching the clips on social media platforms.

 

Despite being in detention, which she has called “illegal”, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has given several interviews to top news channels – both national and regional, since she was detained during early hours of Monday. Priyanka, who usually does not interact with the media much, is suddenly all over the news and social media, which shows the sudden shift in Congress’ approach.

The visuals of their leader fighting on the street and getting detained perhaps gave Congress cadre a much needed boost. Congress workers gathered outside the PAC guest house in Sitapur and started protesting against her detention. The party workers also held demonstrations across the country.

 

As a video of minister’s car mowing down the farmers surfaced on Monday night, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, this morning, uploaded a video from her handles, in which she showed the horrific visuals and demanded accountability from the PM.

Priyanka began her video by asking the Prime Minister, who is visiting the state capital Lucknow today, whether he has watched the video of Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

“This video shows one of your minister’s son mowing down farmers with his car. Watch this video and tell this country why this minister has not been suspended yet? Why his son has not been arrested yet?” Priyanka Gandhi asked.

“When you have kept me and other opposition leaders under detention without any order or warrant, I want to know why this man (minister’s son) is free?” she said.

At the time of this piece being written, this video on Priyanka Gandhi’s Twitter handle had been watched over 3 lakh times.

Senior Congress leaders, including chief ministers of states, have condemned the detention of Priyanka Gandhi. Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel reached Lucknow airport on Tuesday afternoon, where he was stopped by the UP police and not allowed to move out of the airport. The Congress leader sat on Dharna inside the airport. Former union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram called her detention “illegal and utterly shameful”.

Rahul Gandhi has also made two tweets in support of Priyanka Gandhi. On Monday morning, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Priyanka, I know you won’t hold back – they are stunned by your courage. In this non-violent fight for justice, we will make the country’s Annadata win.”

On Tuesday morning, he again wrote in his tweet: “The one who is kept in custody is not afraid – is a true Congressman, will not give up! Satyagraha will not stop.”

 

Silence from the BJP & G-23

Except the statement made by the UP CM on Sunday about the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, no top BJP leader has yet spoken about it. In the wake of upcoming assembly elections, the horrific incident and Priyanka Gandhi’s all out attack has left the saffron party on backfoot.

Not only the BJP leaders, the G-23 leaders in Congress have also been taken aback by the development where they clearly see Priyanka on ground fighting the UP police, and introspect on the “armchair politician” criticism they are often subjected to. None of the G-23 leaders have tried to go to Lakhimpur Kheri, or Sitapur for that matter after Priyanka Gandhi was detained. Many of them tweeted about the detention of Priyanka Gandhi or retweeted videos posted by Priyanka Gandhi on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri.

 

However, these leaders also must have realised that there’s one more Gandhi left in the family who they have not seen doing full-fledged politics before. Priyanka’s record prior 2019 has been phenomenal as campaign manager. Now that she has started showing her political acumen in the UP fight, the G-23 leaders will have to hold their direct jibes at the leadership until Priyanka emerges out as a winner or loser.

Allies line up in support

Congress has not only managed to uplift the morale of its cadre before the 2022 assembly elections, it has also received support from other non-BJP allies after detention of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, other than writing in support of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana, retweeted videos posted by Priyanka and other Congress handles. In fact, on Tuesday he tweeted that there is need for “joint opposition action against oppression by the Government in UP”, and said he would be meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to discuss the same at 4.15 PM.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also tweeted in support of Priyanka Gandhi and other opposition leaders, and demanded that they shall be freed.

NCP leader and Maharashtra housing minister Jitendra Awhad went to the extent of saying that Priyanka’s “visit to Lakhimpur Kheri reminds” him of “Indira Gandhi’s visit to Belchi after massacre of Dalits”.

Consistency a problem

The Congress had gained similar kind of momentum last year after the Hathras tragedy when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi set off to visit the family of the victim, and were similarly stopped by UP police, which eventually let them go and visit the family. The grand old party couldn’t capitalise on the support they received during their agitation against the Hathras tragedy. UP is a very large state to be run from Delhi. The Congress leaders, including Gandhis, should be on ground all the time, and not only when there’s a limelight opportunity. There cannot be discrepancies in their performance, rather it needs to be consistent.

Congress is in bad shape in Uttar Pradesh. The party had already been decimated by the SP and BSP even before the BJP came into the picture. It would take a lot of hardwork for someone like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who till now has been a seasonal campaigner or occasional troubleshooter for the party. She’s in for a full-time job against the party and leaders who are rumoured to work 21 hours a day (whatsapp forward). On a serious note, Congress cannot imagine winning the UP Election at this point. With the kind of resources and organisational flaws that the Congress has, capitalising on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident will provide Priyanka Gandhi Vadra an opportunity to fight the might of the SP, BSP and BJP. Priyanka’s success in connecting with the masses will be directly proportional to the Congress’ success in the northern state. If she manages to maintain this spirit of the party cadre that she’s lifted, it would possibly prove to be a game-changer for Congress. In addition to that, if Priyanka Gandhi remains as visible as she’s been in the last two days, she will perhaps manage to make Congress win a respectable amount of seats in Uttar Pradesh.

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