Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hinted at a larger role for his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Uttar Pradesh politics , beyond the 2019 Lok Sabha election, when he said the party would now work to usher in a Congress Chief Minister in the State.
Asserting that he was not sending Ms. Vadra to U.P., as general secretary in-charge of Purvanchal, for just two months, Mr. Gandhi said it would instead be “a mission” to “fight for the true ideology” of the party.
Addressing a public meeting in his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi soon after the appointment of his sister, Mr. Gandhi said: “Today, I appointed Priyanka as a general secretary for U.P. Now, the Congress will work to seat its own Chief Minister here.”
Earlier speaking to reporters on his way to Amethi, Mr. Gandhi described Ms. Vadra as “very capable and hard-working” and said he was personally happy to be going to work with her. Mr. Gandhi also praised Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was appointed in-charge of West U.P., as a “dynamic young leader.”
When asked if Ms. Vadra would contest elections, Mr. Gandhi said it was up to her. “My main point is that we are not playing on the back foot anywhere, be it Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh. We do politics for the people and development, and wherever we get an opportunity, we will play on the front foot,” he said.
“Congress party is fighting a battle of ideologies. And the Congress party is not going to play on the back foot anywhere, it will play on the front foot. It is fighting for its ideology. Be it Priyanka or Jyotiraditya, they are powerful leaders of the Congress and through these two young leaders we want to alter the politics of Uttar Pradesh,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Asked if his sister’s appointment was a reaction to the SP-BSP alliance, Mr. Gandhi said he held no animosity towards BSP chief Mayawati or SP president Akhilesh Yadav, and had “no problem” in co-operating with them to stop the BJP or holding talks. While announcing their alliance recently, the two parties had said they would not field candidates in the Congress bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli.
“I have full respect for Mayawatiji and Akhileshji. All three of us have the same goal of defeating the BJP. We don’t have any animosity towards Mayawatiji and Akhileshji, there is affection. But we have to fight for the ideology of the Congress party, and so we will fight in U.P. with full force,” Mr. Gandhi said.
The Congress party also had many similarities in ideology with the SP and BSP, he said, stressing that “our fight is with the BJP.” He added, “and wherever our co-operation is possible with Mayawatiji and Akhileshji, we are ready to co-operate.”
Mr. Gandhi also reached out to the youth of U.P., saying his target was to make the State number one and to provide a new direction to farmers and the youth.
“I’m not talking about any caste or religion, if you are a youth from U.P., you have witnessed how your State has been ruined. You have seen corruption. We want to fulfill a new dream along with you,” he said.
He later tweeted that “U.P. is central to building a new hope filled & compassionate India,” and the team led by Ms. Vadra and Mr. Scindia “will herald the dawn of a new kind of politics in the State.”
