Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will station herself in Lucknow for four days next week in her first outing to Uttar Pradesh after her appointment as AICC general secretary in charge of eastern UP. The decision came on a day Congress president Rahul Gandhi chaired a meeting of AICC officebearers, kickstarting the party’s Lok Sabha election efforts. Both Rahul and Priyanka along with Jyotiraditya Scindia will hold a roadshow in Lucknow on February 11. The two AICC general secretaries will then camp in Lucknow for the next three days, meeting leaders and workers. Rahul, at a nearly three-hour meeting on Thursday, told AICC general secretaries and in-charges to pull up their socks and plunge headlong into election efforts. As part of the efforts, the Congress sealed an electoral pact with the JMM in Jharkhand. It would be a grand alliance comprising the Congress, JMM, Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and RJD. Rahul met JMM acting president Hemant Soren and the deal was finalised. While the party did not officially announce the details, sources said the Congress is likely to contest in seven of the 14 Lok Sabha seats. The JMM is likely to contest in 4 seats, JVM will contest in 2 and the RJD in one seat, they said. “It has been decided that the Congress will contest the largest number of seats for Lok Sabha while the JMM will contest the largest number of seats in the Assembly elections. The Congress will lead the campaign in the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly election campaign will be led by Hemant Soren,” AICC in charge of Jharkhand R P N Singh told The Indian Express. At the meeting, it was decided that the party will oppose the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament. “Rahul Gandhi made it clear that if the Modi government attempts to bring the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the Congress will never let it pass. And in Rajya Sabha, the Congress will talk to other parties and defeat the Bill on the floor of the House. It is an open challenge,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. Attending her first official meeting, Priyanka is learnt to have said that she will fight discrimination and religious and casteist divisions in Uttar Pradesh. She said that although it is a tough challenge, she is committed to fight till the Congress is firmly established in the Hindi heartland state. Priyanka, sources said, told the leaders she will put all her efforts and learn from the experience of senior leaders. Rahul asked both Priyanka and Scindia to strengthen the party in the state in “mission-mode”. Scindia said the party should reach out to women, farmers and the youth. The party also decided to quicken the candidate selection process and rollout of the national campaign. AICC general secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal said the selection of candidates will be completed this month. Sources said the national campaign will be rolled out by the third week of this month. While winnability remains the main criteria, the party said priority should be given to youth, women and those from the deprived sections. Rahul said new faces should be given precedence over those who have lost the elections 2-3 times.
