Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Begins UP Roadshow, Brother Rahul By Her Side

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will launch her mission Uttar Pradesh today with a roadshow through the crowded streets of Lucknow, the entire route awash with posters of the new Congress general secretary and her brother Rahul Gandhi, the party president. The 47-year-old, no stranger to such roadshows with her brother, is campaigning for the first time outside the Gandhi family constituencies of Amethi and Raebareli.

Priyanka Gandhi was greeted by hundreds of Congress workers standing and cheering on the streets as she arrived in the UP capital. Ahead of the national election due by May, she is seen by many as the Congress’s big hope in Uttar Pradesh, the state which has the highest number of seats in parliament and is considered the route to power in the country. Her older brother Rahul Gandhi announced her political debut as the party’s general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh two weeks ago. Jyotiraditya Scindia will be in charge of the other half of the state.

According to a report, for the first time in 50 years, a member of the Gandhi family will spend 4 days at the Congress party’s UP state headquarters. Earlier in the 70s, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi used to visit the party headquarters regularly. Vadra will reach Lucknow’s Amausi airport at 12 noon and from there a roadshow to party headquarters (which are 14 km away) will be taken out.