While suspense envelopes the participation of Priyanka Vadra at the launch of Congress' poll campaign by way of Rahul Gandhi's interaction with cadre and leaders in lucknow, the party has gone on the overdrive to make the programme a huge success.
State party brass are hopeful that about one lakh activists and workers would attend the mega-interaction session with vice-president Rahul Gandhi at Rama Bai Sthal.
For the first time, Rahul will listen tothe ideas of the workers and office bearers and thrash out ways and means to establish Congress by ending its 27-years long political hibernation in the state.
Even as a majority of leaders ruled out the participation of Priyanka Vadra at the interaction session coined 'UP Udghosh' (UP's announcement), but no one seemed willing to came on record on the issue. Priyanka ad earlier campaigned both for her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively.
Party sources said that leaders who were excited with Rahul’s decision to march from the venue to the Raj Bhawan to hand over a memorandum, were upset after the yatra was called off following refusal of adminsitrative permission on security reasons.
The weather is likely to play spoilsport with the Met office atlucknow predicting heavy rains during the next 48 hours. Except for the dais, the entire ground housing the participating workers would be uncovered and mighthaveto face the brunt of the monsoon.
State Congress chief Raj Babbar also reached lucknow on Thursday evening and visited the venue along with other senior leaders to oversee the preparations.
Over 80,000 Congress workers have already registered themselves for the one-to-one interaction session and several workers from far-flung areas have started reaching lucknow to attend the meet which will be held between 3 pm and 6:30 pm.
The interactive session is said to be another brainchild of party's strategist Prashant Kishore or PK and aims at mobilising maximum activists before the polls.
Party leaders said every probable candidate for the Assembly polls have been asked to bring in 15 supporters. Besides block pramuks will bring 8, district and city presidents 25 each and each state office-bearer will bring at least ten members for the programme where the participants would be provided lunch and breakfast.
"There would be three dais, one for the VVIP, one for leaders and the third for the media while Rahul Gandhi would place himslef on a ramp overseeing the ground so that he can reach the workers and answer their querries. There would be over 60,000 chairs for the workers," informed Chairman of Congress Media Cell and former minister Satyadep Tripathi in lucknow on Thursday.
Senior leader Siddharth Priya Srivastava who is an aspirant from Gorakhpur, claimed that after a long time people have started responding to Congress initiative and workers have started pouring in from far off areas from this morning.