New Delhi, March 31 – Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, now a key Congress strategist, will take charge of the Nehru-Gandhi family bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi parliamentary constituencies soon after party chief Sonia Gandhi files her nomination on April 2.
Though Priyanka has been managing the elections in the two VIP constituencies since 2004, she has paid special attention to Rae Bareli and Amethi since the party’s drubbing in 2012, when it lost all five assembly seats in Rae Bareli and won only two of five in Amethi.
“They will win, but this is a tough election for the family,” a source told Mail Today . Keeping that in mind, Priyanka completely overhauled the Congress units in the two seats and directed workers to organise massive outreach programmes like ‘padyatras’ in villages and the “Congress Apke Dwar” campaign in the past few months.
She also opened an office in the adjacent constituencies to address grievances and another in Delhi to facilitate interaction with party workers and get feedback.
Priyanka, who is now a key player in managing the poll campaign led by vice-president Rahul Gandhi, will camp in Amethi and Rae Bareli which will go to polls on May 7 and April 30, respectively.
Rahul is expected to file his nomination next week. “She keeps in touch with senior leaders, obtains feedback on party nominees and provides vital inputs to Rahul on campaign management,” a senior leader told Mail Today.
For Rahul
“Not only the campaign, she is also involved in all big decisions. But she is doing all that quietly,” he said. Priyanka was present when Rahul gave his first TV interview, which did not have the desired impact, in January.
Her role in shaping Congress strategy came to light when she met senior leaders, including Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and several top leaders at Rahul’s residence on January 7. The Congress had then played down the meeting.
-INDIA TODAY
