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Priyanka heads to Lucknow for four-day visit with eye on 2022 polls
The Congress put up a poor show in the block panchayat polls, winning four block seats.
Congress general secretary and in-charge of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, faces a host of organisational challenges as she arrives in Lucknow on Friday to interact with workers and prepare for the 2022 assembly elections. “Priyanka ji will arrive here on Friday,” a party leader familiar with developments said, preferring anonymity.
The Congress general secretary is likely to hold interactions with different groups of the faction-ridden party at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) headquarters but her first challenge will be to strengthen the party’s poor ground infrastructure in India’s most-populous state.
The Congress put up a poor show in the block panchayat polls, winning four block seats. Barring three block panchayats in Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra’s assembly constituency and a block panchayat in Amethi MLC Deepak Singh’s area, no other leader was able to ensure victory of any party-supported candidate.
“Priyanka ji’s first major task will be to make an assessment about the party organisation’s infrastructure and gear it up for the 2022 polls,” another party functionary said, preferring anonymity.
The visit comes months before the state heads to the polls early next year. This is her first visit to Lucknow in 18 months.
Her scheduled trips were deferred on several occasions due to Covid-induced restrictions. Priyanka last visited Lucknow in 2020.
She will also require to work on bringing old leaders into the party’s mainstream.
