To ensure the victory of her brother Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli and also to wrest the Amethi Lok Sabha seat from Smriti Irani who defeated Rahul last time, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Rae Bareli on Monday. She would camp there till the end of campaigning for the fifth phase on the evening of May 18.

Priyanka reached Bhuemau Guest House in Rae Bareli in the evening and held a meeting with the ‘Special 24’ team formed by her mother Sonia Gandhi to ensure that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi retains her traditional Rae Bareli seat.

Priyanka also interacted with a 40-member team which is active to ensure victory of the Gandhi family’s trusted lieutenant Kishori Lal Sharma, who has been fielded from Amethi.

To help Priyanka, two former chief ministers, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh and Ashok Gehlot from Rajasthan, have also been appointed senior party observers in Rae Bareli and Amethi, respectively. The appointment was made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday morning.

Former Congress MLC Deepak Singh confirmed on Monday evening that Priyanka would camp in Rae Bareli till the end of campaigning for the fifth phase of polls on May 18. He said besides campaigning in Rae Bareli and Amethi, Priyanka would also cover other important constituencies across the country to ensure the victory of maximum candidates of the party and INDIA bloc.

Priyanka will be also joined by Rahul Gandhi.

VEHICLES VANDALISED OUTSIDE

CONGRESS OFFICE IN AMETHI

Meanwhile, more than half a dozen vehicles parked outside the Congress office in Gauriganj area of Amethi were allegedly vandalised and the party leaders were also attacked on Sunday night.

Congress district spokesperson Anil Singh accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of orchestrating the incident that took place on Sunday night and claimed that some people sitting inside the cars had sustained injuries.

The Congress leaders alleged that BJP workers were desperate as they sensed the defeat of Union minister Smriti Irani and had lost their cool.

They also accused the local administration of working on the diktat of Smriti Irani and her associates, saying that no action was taken against those involved in the attack.

“The BJP leaders and workers attacked supporters of Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma in the presence of police and some of the miscreants also vandalised our vehicles,” the Congress leaders alleged.

At the time of the incident, Kishori Lal Sharma was holding a meeting with party workers in the office at Gauriganj.

The Congress leaders said that Kishori Lal Sharma could have been attacked.

More than six vehicles of Congress workers were damaged in the attack while four Congress workers were seriously injured.

The Congress workers said the BJP workers escaped from the spot after the attack as the police personnel remained a mute spectator.

They said that Smriti Irani was scared of Kishori Lal Sharma’s popularity and sensing her imminent defeat, her supporters were now involved in unlawful activities.

The Gauriganj police have registered a case against unidentified miscreants in the incident. Superintendent of Police in Amethi, Anoop Kumar Singh, said that an FIR under the charges of Indian Penal Code sections 336 (negligent act), 427 (causing damage) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) had been registered against unidentified persons at the Gauriganj police station.

The FIR was lodged by the driver of one of the damaged vehicles, identified as Saddam Hussain. Hussain said that he also sustained injuries when unidentified persons pelted stones at the vehicles, said SP Singh.

The police are scanning the CCTV footage to find out all those who vandalised the vehicles.