Priyanka Gandhi Formally Enters Politics, Named AICC Secretary, UP (East)

New Delhi: Pulling out its ‘trump card’ before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Wednesday appointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, 47, as All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East), marking party president Rahul Gandhi’s sister’s formal entry into active politics. She will be taking charge from the first week of February 2019, a party statement said.

Jyotiraditya Scindia has been appointed as the AICC secretary for UP (West) “with immediate effect”.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the present AICC general secretary in-charge of UP will now take care of Haryana, while KC Venugopal has been appointed as the AICC secretary (organisation) replacing Ashok Gehlot, who is now the chief minister of Rajasthan.

Priyanka Gandhi’s formal entry into politics has been speculated for long after reports of Sonia Gandhi’s failing health and the possibility of her not contesting the Lok Sabha election this time. Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are Lok Sabha MPs from UP, from traditional Gandhi family constituencies – Rae Bareli and Amethi. However, UP (East) holds a formidable challenge for Priyanka Gandhi, as the area is said to have considerable influence of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who cut his political teeth in the Gorakhpur region.

The announcement underlines the crucial role played by Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The two key opposition parties, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), recently announced an alliance to defeat the BJP, but kept Congress out of it. However, the alliance said it had left two seats for Congress.

Priyanka Gandhi’s appointment may therefore work as a morale booster for Congress cadre, many of whom were said to be demoralised after the party was “snubbed” by the SP-BSP.

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As per NDTV, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, while congratulating Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia, said: “We will not play on the backfoot. I have not sent Priyanka and Jyotiraditya for two months. I have sent them to take Congress’s ideology forward in Uttar Pradesh. Our ideology of standing and fighting for the poor, for the youth, for the farmers…”

However, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who have been attacking ‘dynastic politics’, have got yet another reason to sharpen their attack on the Congress now. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said Priyanka Gandhi’s appointment was a sign of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘failure’.

UP has always played a crucial role in government formation at the Centre, as it sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP and its allies won over 70 seats from the state. However, following sharp communal polarisation and growing attacks on Dalits and minorities after BJP came to power, UP is set be the battleground for the Lok Sabha polls.

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