Even as Congress leaders are confirming that Priyanka Gandhi is set to launch a poll campaign in UP to ensure the party’s comeback, but sources maintained that `Gujrat polls’ is on top of Priyanka Gandhi’s agenda.
She firmly believes that defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi in UP which has a maximum of 80 lok Sabha seats would bolster Congress’ revival, but she also knows that defeating Modi in his own home state will ease Rahul Gandhi’s march to form the Union government in 2019.
Congress sources confirmed that Priyanka has not only started taking interest in politics butalso has attended meetings to discuss the poll strategy in UP, Punjab, Uttrakhand.
But Preiyanka’s prime concern remains how to go about in Gujrat as defeating Modi in his home turf would prove to be the first nail in the BJP’s coffin.
“Priyanka has aceded to campaign in UP to support brother Rahul sometime in the next month. She will take up the responsibility officially, after being inducted into All India Congress Committee as general secretary in November.
She will manage the entire poll campaign and relieve her brother to steadily take over the charge of Congress president from Sonia Gandhi.
State Congress president Raj Babbar during a recent chat with media too confirmed that Priyanka will launch a campaign in UP but did not specify the date as it was being rumoured that she will kick off the campaign on the occasion for former PM Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary on November 19.
Sources further said that Priyanka had played a major role in drafting in poll strategist Prashant Kishore at PK to look after the party’s campaign in UP and other states.
A senior Congress leader also said that Priyanka is keeping a tab on the ongoing feud within SP’s first family and if things settle positively, then Congress might go ahead and forge a Grand Alliance in UP on the lines of Bihar.
Besides Congress and SP, Janta Dal (United), Rastriya lok Dal and other other smaller outfits would come on one platform posing challenge to Modi’s BJP in UP.