Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday said she has been given the key task of strengthening her party in the Uttar Pradesh — even beyond the Lok Sabha elections — and ensure it comes back to power in the 2022 Assembly polls.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Priyanka, who is the Congress’ eastern Uttar Pradesh in charge, also said her party which fought for freedom does not need a “certificate of patriotism” from those who sought to apologise to the then British rulers.
Addressing block presidents, booth workers and the members of gram panchayat and zila panchayat of the party in Rae Bareli, the constituency of her mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, she said: “I have been given the task to strengthen the party in the state. And I will ensure that the party comes to power in the State in 2022.
“And once the Government is formed in Uttar Pradesh, I can ensure that we are not going to be defeated for next 10-15 years on the basis of the development works.”
Priyanka Gandhi had made the same point at her programme near Gauriganj in Amethi — the constituency of her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi — on Wednesday night.
“Are you preparing for the elections? I am not talking about 2019, but 2022,” she asked the workers, indicating the reason for her appointment in the party’s long-term strategy in the State.
“And we do not need certificate of nationalism from anyone who never participated in the freedom struggle and who wrote letter to the Britishers seeking apology,” she said.