All eyes on Priyanka Gandhi for Uttar Pradesh by polls

The forthcoming by-elections for seven assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be the testing time for Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.

The bypolls for seven assembly seats – Naugawan, Sadat, Bullandshahar, Bangarmau, Ghatampur, Deoria, Tundla and Makhani –will take place on November 3 and the results will be announced on November 10.

For the first time Priyanka Gandhi is alone responsible for the entire show on behalf of her party. From selection of candidates to campaigning, every decision has been taken by Priyanka Gandhi who is AICC general secretary in-charge of entire UP.

During 2019 Lok Sabha polls, she was only in-charge of eastern UP and hardly had any time to perform. It may be mentioned that Jyotiraditya Scindia was in-charge of western UP who has now joined BJP.

Since last Lok Sabha polls, Priyanka Gandhi has been in touch with party leaders and workers on regular basis. Priyanka was responsible in making Ajay Kumar Lallu as state president and his team of office- bearers. During the pandemic, it was only Congress Party which was visible on roads helping people in distress including lakhs of migrant labourers. Priyanka not only raised the issue of corruption in handling of pandemic by the state government but offered help to arrange buses to bring back migrant labourers.

Congress leaders raised the issue of rise in crime against women. She, along with her brother Rahul Gandhi, were the first opposition leaders who confronted the UP administration on the issue of alleged gang-rape of a Dalit woman in Hathras and reached the village to meet the family of the victim. Not only Hathras incident, Priyanka raised the issue of all women belonging to different caste and religion through videos, tweets and letters to CM Yogi Adityanath. She also raised the issue of farmers with the government from power tariff to proper purchase of their produce.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi also took up the issue of weavers, especially in eastern UP and Varanasi in particular. The weavers in Varanasi, which is represented by none other than PM Narendra Modi also suffered during the pandemic and their issue was raised by Priyanka Gandhi and CPI national secretary Atul Anjaan.

Priyanka Gandhi also galvanised her party workers through constant video calls and series of programs during last few months. The name of Congress President Ajay Kumar Lallu will be included for maximum number of arrest for public causes. He is always in the limelight while trying to meet the victims and being prevented by the authorities.

For the first time, Priyanka Gandhi herself and her team is linked with grassroot workers through their mobile numbers. Now ground work has already been done by Priyanka and her team to face the bypolls and much depends on the campaign with hurdles due to pandemic restrictions. The future strategy of Priyanka Gandhi for 2022 assembly elections will depend on the results of these bypolls and votes polled by Congress candidates.