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Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Priyanka Gandhi likely to skip campaigning in state
Besides Priyanka, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot are the other star campaigners who have skipped the campaign in Bihar so far
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress’s general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and the party’s star campaigner, is likely to skip the campaigning in Bihar during the ongoing three-phase assembly elections, people familiar with the development said.
She is one of the 30 star campaigners of the Congress for the Bihar polls.
Besides Priyanka, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot are the other Congress’s star campaigners, who have skipped the campaign in Bihar so far.
Though there had been several requests from Congress candidates to Priyanka to campaign for them, she is unlikely to campaign in Bihar, a party functionary said.
While Sonia and Monmohan Singh skipped the campaigning in Bihar due to the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, Priyanka did not canvass for the party candidates, as she was busy in the by-elections to seven seats in UP on Tuesday (November 3).
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“There is a one-day window on November 5, which is the last day of campaigning for the third and final phase of elections to be held on November 7. However, we have no information yet whether she will campaign or not,” said the functionary quoted above.
The last time Priyanka campaigned for the party candidates outside UP was during the Jharkhand assembly elections in December last year.
“That was also the last day of campaigning for Jharkhand elections,” the functionary said.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be in Bihar for two days from Tuesday. He will address election rallies in Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria districts in the poll-bound state’s Seemanchal region.
Rahul had held public meetings in the first two phases and Sonia addressed a virtual rally on October 27.
The list of star campaigners submitted by the Congress to the Election Commission of India (ECI) also included Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (RS), Ghulam Nabi Azad, one of the 23 dissenters, who wrote a letter to Sonia seeking an overhaul of the party, and Sachin Pilot, who had raised a banner of revolt against Rajasthan CM Gehlot.
The ECI had reduced the maximum number of campaigners for the recognised parties from 40 to 30 following concerns over large gatherings in public rallies because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Similarly, the cap for unrecognised parties is 20.
The election results for the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly will be announced on November 10.
