Congress President Sonia Gandhi, party Vice-president Rahul Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among the 40 party leaders who have been accorded as `star campaigners’ during the seven-phase assembly polls in the State. The 40-member list starts with Sonia Gandhi and then Rahul Gandhi, while the third spot is taken by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Thereafter come the name of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Raj Babbar, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, former lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Sushil Kumar Shinde. The name of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra comes on the ninth place in the list.
According to a statement by the Congress, several senior state leaders such as Sanjay Singh, Pramod Tiwari, Pradeep Mathur, Pl Punia, Salman Khursheed, RPN Singh and controversial leader Rizwan Zaheer, also figure in the star-campaigners list. Bollywood star Nagma also found her name in the list along with several other senior leaders from other states including Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot, Shobha Ojha etc.