Priyanka to hit campaign trail

Putting an end to all speculations about her role in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Priyanka Vadera will hit the campaign trail from Amethi on Friday.

She will spend the next four days holding meetings with party workers and convassing for Congress candidates in the Assembly constituencies falling under Amethi and Rae Bareli parliamentary seats, according to Congress sources.

Party functionaries in charge of her programmes in UP said that unlike the roadshows of her brother and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka's programmes would be very low key and away from the media spotlight. She may go to villages and interact with the people at a personal level but there will be no meetings, rallies or roadshows, they said.

Priyanka has been active during parliamentary elections ""acting as an election agent of her mother Sonia Gandhi and overseeing her campaigns in Rae Bareli, and occasionally even sharing dais with her mother in public meetings. But it is the first time she has taken a plunge in Assembly elections. It is also the first time she will be involved in an election campaign in Amethi, which has so far been her camping site only during her visits to Rae Bareli.

According to Congress sources, Priyanka Vadera is unlikely to go beyond the 10 Assembly constituencies falling under the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats. The Congress had won four out of these ten seats in the last Assembly elections. Party leaders hoped to bag all the 10 if Priyanka were to visit each constituency and campaign there.

Party sources said that not much should be read into Priyanka Vadera's "limited appearance" in the Assembly elections. "At best, it shows how serious Madam Gandhi (Congress High Command) is about the revival of the Congress in UP.

Her visits to Amethi and Rae Bareli bear no significance in terms of her interest or the lack of it in politics. Priyanka's entry will also send across a positive message to the youth who are already thronging around Rahul Gandhi," said a senior party leader.