Beti nahi yeh aandhi hai, yeh Priyanka Gandhi hai (This is not just a daughter, but a storm. This is Priyanka Gandhi)." It is one of the more popular slogans which has been reverberating in Amethi and Rae Bareli since Priyanka started campaigning for her mother Sonia in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. Five years later, Sonia moved to Rae Bareli, leaving Amethi to Rahul. Priyanka has been the key campaigner for the Congress in both constituencies, her charisma and connect with the voters unmistakeable.
Priyanka gave her first public speech in 1988. Her next high-profile public appearance came in 1995, when she accompanied Sonia to a public meeting in Amethi. After Sonia broke down on stage complaining that the probe into her husband Rajiv's assassination was progressing very slowly, Priyanka stepped in to console her mother.
“Before every election, there is a huge clamour for Priyanka,” said Youth Congress leader and state Congress spokesperson Rahul Mishra, who had worked with her in several campaigns. “Congress workers wanted Priyanka in a more active role, rather than keeping her just as a campaigner.” Priyanka's formal induction into the Congress leadership as the general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh seems to be the answer to this longstanding demand. She will now have under her watch 35 Parliament seats spread across 21 districts.
Sandeep Tiwari, a Congress leader who has seen Priyanka at work in Amethi and Rae Bareli, said her new role would be advantageous for the Congress. “During election campaigns, she had stayed in Amethi and Rae Bareli for months,” he said. “Priyanka is well aware of the political pulse of the area. She has the knack of connecting quickly with people.”
The Congress's plans for a mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh suffered a major blow after the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party kept it out of their alliance. With Priyanka’s induction, the grand old party has indicated that it is prepared for a fight. Congress strategists believe that Priyanka's presence in eastern UP will have a ripple effect across the state and will check not just the SP-BSP alliance, but also the Narendra Modi juggernaut.
Faced with the Priyanka challenge, the SP and the BSP need to keep their traditional vote banks of dalits, Muslims and OBCs intact. Senior Congress leader Virendra Madan said although Priyanka was a national leader, she was specifically given the charge of eastern UP because the Congress wanted to make its presence felt in every single seat in the region. State Congress president Raj Babbar said Priyanka's active role would surely boost the morale of party workers.
Eastern UP is a crucial political theatre which has given the country several prime ministers. Priyanka will be locking horns with BJP stalwarts including Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and state BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandey. The Nehru-Gandhi family enjoys historical ties with eastern UP. Amethi and Rae Bareli are in this region, and so is Jawaharlal Nehru’s hometown Allahabad, which is the fulcrum of eastern UP. Nehru and his sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit had represented the Phulpur parliamentary constituency in Allahabad.
Uttar Pradesh is the first state in which the Congress has deployed two in-charges—Priyanka in the east and Jyotiraditya Scindia in the west. For the past several years, the Congress has been having a tough time in the state. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it got just 7.53 per cent of the votes and won only two seats, while the BJP polled 42.63 per cent votes and got 71 seats. The Congress hopes that by giving Priyanka a more prominent role, the party will be able to tide over the crisis.
Her first major challenge will be to enthuse and consolidate the party cadre and end the infighting in the party. Priyanka is known for striking an immediate rapport with voters. There is a possibility that she might contest from Rae Bareli. Even today, many voters in Rae Bareli and Amethi see her grandmother Indira's image in Priyanka.
Senior Congress leader P.L. Punia said Priyanka's entry would have a major impact on the Congress's fortunes. There is already a great deal of enthusiasm among party workers. Leaders and workers have started thronging the Congress office in Lucknow, which till recently wore a deserted look. It is being decorated with festoons, buntings and flowers. A separate room is being spruced up for Priyanka, who is expected to visit soon.
Congress workers in Amethi, too, are excited, as they wait for Priyanka. “We are happy that our long-pending demand got fulfilled,” said Amethi Congress president Yogendra Mishra. “Priyanka's aura and charisma are completely different. She can be a real game changer.”