New Delhi, (Samajweekly) With Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections still more than a year away, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to get involved more in state party unit affairs by setting up bases in state capital Lucknow and Prayagraj, party sources have said.
The sources said that the process in this regard has already been kick-started in Lucknow and her time table for more involvement in the organisational and political matters in the state are getting chalked out.
In Prayagraj, a possible location of her residence has been identified and work in this regard will start soon.
The sources said that Priyanka will divide her time between Delhi and these two places to reach out to party leaders and supporters in various divisions of Uttar Pradesh.
From Delhi, she can easily cover Saharanpur, Agra, Meerut, Moradabad and Aligarh divisions that are within a 250-km radius from the national capital.
From Lucknow, she can handle Kanpur, Faizabad, Basti, Gorakhpur, and Devipatan divisions, asking Congress workers and supporters to meet her in the state capital so that they don’t have to travel much to meet her.
From Prayagraj, the Congress leader can remain in touch with workers from Varanasi, Mirzapur, Azamgarh, and Bundelkhand region.
Priyanka is likely to be present in Lucknow on the Congress’ foundation day on December 28.
Various Congress leaders, including all three party Secretaries attached to Priyanka Gandhi, and UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu met on Thursday to chalk out a programme to invigorate the state Congress.
The sources said that committees from panchayats to block levels in Uttar Pradesh have been finalised and plans are afoot to reach out to more and more people in the northern state.
In bypolls for seven Assembly seats held recently, the Congress did not win any seat but came second in Bangarmau and Ghatampur segments. While it won seven Assembly seats in the 403-member Assembly in 2017, MLAs Rakesh Singh and Aditi Singh from Raebareli have since parted ways with the opposition party.
The last UP Assembly elections were held in February-March 2017.
