 "Priyanka Gandhi to only work for family")
The charismatic and photogenic Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will only campaign for her mother Sonia Gandhi in her constituency Rae Bareli and for her brother, Rahul Gandhi, in Amethi.
Within minutes of the news hitting the e-arena that Priyanka Vadra will tour all over the country to campaign for the Congress, the party put out an unequivocal denial.
Persons in both constituencies have for long clamoured for Vadra. She was a big draw when Sonia Gandhi contested and won the election from Bellary in Karnataka. Vadra has traditionally organised every last detail of her family’s election campaign and there was a rumour that she might contest from Sultanpur this time, currently held by Sanjay Sinh of the Congress. All three constituencies have a big Samajwadi Party presence.
However, the vehemence and speed with which the Congress has denied reports reinforces what Vadra has held all along: that reports of her plunging into electoral politics are only aimed at creating divisions in the family.
"We condemn news channels that have claimed Priyanka Gandhi will be campaigning for the Congress Party across the country.
There is no truth in it. This news has been floated to divert attention from failures of the BJP Government in Madhya Pradesh," said AICC General Secretary and Communication Department in-charge Ajay Maken.
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The only constituency where Vadra had put in an apperance in the 2009 Lok Sabha election was to address people in support of Mohd Azharuddin who is the Congress MP from Moradabad. But she was seen as the ‘bahu’ of Moradabad. Azharuddin in the meantime has not fared too well: the Congress failed to win even one assembly seat from Moradabad. Promises of setting up a cricket academy, creating a ground to teach young people cricket, and other broken promises mean Azharuddin’s own chance of winning from this 45% Muslim constituency are dim.
Vadra has been scrupulous about her involvement in politics: she firmly believes that her entry into politics will mean a division in the family and is content to play a supporting role. Her husband Robert had indicated some interest in public life but that was nipped in the bud quite firmly.