Priyanka Gandhi visits Mayawati, offers condolences for her mother’s death

Priyanka Gandhi tweeted also tweeted her condolence after news about Mayawati’s mother’s demise broke on Saturday.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday visited Mayawati in Delhi to offer her condolences after the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader’s mother died from heart failure the previous day.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met BSP chief Mayawati to pay condolences to her mother's demise. (ANI Photo)

In a video released by the party, Gandhi is seen having a short conversation with the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, which ended with Gandhi saying, “I will visit again.”

When news about Mayawati’s mother’s demise broke on Saturday, the Congress leader tweeted, “Received the sad news of the demise of Smt. Ramrati ji, the National President of Bahujan Samaj Party and mother of former Chief Minister of UP, Ms @Mayawati. May God give her a place near Him and give courage to the family members to bear the pain during this grief. Om Shanti.”

This comes during the often bitter election campaign ahead of the UP elections next year. When Priyanka Gandhi announced that women will get 40 per cent of the election tickets, Mayawati called it nothing but “election drama”. She added that if the Congress party was really concerned about inclusion, then why did their government not make a law to give 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and legislative assemblies.

Priyanka Gandhi also lashed out at Mayawati, saying that she failed to raise her voice during the Hathras rape case and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. “Where is Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati? For the last two years, whether it was the Hathras incident or (recent incident in) Lakhimpur Kheri, it's only Congress which raised issues in Uttar Pradesh,” she said.

With the UP assembly elections coming up in February 2022, tensions between political parties have risen especially with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition.