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‘Priyanka Gandhi’s appointment a game-changer,’ say partymen, celebrate with sweets, crackers

Thrilled Congress leaders and workers says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s appointment will change the party’s fortunes in the country.

Updated on: Jan 23, 2019, 16:23:18 IST
Hindustan Times, Amethi | By
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Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s move to appoint his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the party’s general secretary as in-charge of east Uttar Pradesh ahead of the general elections has enthused party workers in Uttar Pradesh who described the decision as a ‘game changer’.

File photo of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra waving to supporters of the Congress party after election at Amethi. (Reuters)
File photo of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra waving to supporters of the Congress party after election at Amethi. (Reuters)

Most partymen appear in an upbeat mood following Priyanka’s appointment to a key post in an election year. Many burst crackers and distributed sweets. A few workers were seen with posters proclaiming ‘Indira is back’.

“We have been demanding this. She has been active. The decision to appoint her in-charge for east UP will be a game changer. We are in a joyous mood and partymen are celebrating this,” said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Peeyush Mishra.

As Priyanka has been in close touch with leaders of her party, major changes may take place in party organisation at different levels.

Congress leader Rajeev Shukla and Motilal Vohra said Priyanka’s appointment will revive the party across the country.

The decision to appoint Priyanka to an important post came on a day when Rahul Gandhi was visiting his constituency Amethi.

The Congress has an uphill task in Uttar Pradesh after the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party announced an alliance earlier this month without taking the grand old party on board. Snubbed by the SP and BSP, the Congress initially declared that it would contest all 80 Lok Sabha seats in U.P. and then said it was still open to alliances with other like minded parties.

(With ANI inputs)

Follow live updates:  ‘We’re fired up and ready to go’: Congress on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s political debut

  • Umesh Raghuvanshi
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Umesh Raghuvanshi

    Umesh Raghuvanshi is an award-winning journalist with nearly four decades of demonstrated experience in the profession. He is the author of Ayodhya: The Gods Are Liberated. He is skilled in storytelling and newswriting, and writes on politics, governance, legislature, finance, environment, and social issues. He is based in Lucknow, is well-travelled, and has covered several national and international events, as well as all assembly and parliament elections in Uttar Pradesh since 1984. He has been a visiting scholar at the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley, USA, and a Metcalf Fellow at the Metcalf Institute of Marine and Environmental Reporting, University of Rhode Island, USA. He is a science graduate from DBS College, Dehradun, and holds an MA in Political Science from DAV (PG) College, Dehradun. He won the KC Kulish International Merit Award for excellence in journalism (2015) and received it in New Delhi in 2017. He also won a competition organised by the United Nations Environment Programme DTIE OzonAction Programme in 2009 that assessed coverage of the interlinkages between ozone and climate change. He was awarded in Beijing, China, in 2010. He started his career with a Dehradun-based English daily in the early 1980s and later worked with The Pioneer too.Read More