Priyanka Gandhi & Jyotiraditya Scindia set to take stock of UP debacle
New Delhi: With Congress president Rahul Gandhi out of action, his sister and party general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi, will start looking into organisational affairs. On Wednesday Ms Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia will meet top Congress leaders to discuss party’s rout in the Lok Sabha polls particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh. On Tuesday, Ms Gandhi will be on a “thanksgiving” visit to Rae Bareli. She will also take part in review meetings on Wednesday to discuss the reasons behind the party’s poor performance in the general elections in the state. Rae Bareilly is the only Lok Sabha seat that the Congress could win in the state in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election. According to sources, district presidents from the eastern region of the state and other senior leaders will be attending marathon meetings which will go till late in the presence of secretary in-charges of eastern UP.
On June 4, a meeting was held at Ms Gandhi’s residence in New Delhi, which was attended by the president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress committee, Raj Babbar, and other general secretaries, including Mr Scindia, to rebuild the party at the block level.
In her upcoming visit to UP, she will also be meeting party representatives from her brother’s constituency Amethi.
Mr Gandhi lost the election from the family bastion by almost 55,000 votes to BJP leader Smriti Irani. Mr Scindia will be meeting party candidates who lost the elections from constituencies adjoining Delhi.
After that, he will be travelling to Lucknow to assess the situation for the party in the state.
Just before the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had divided Uttar Pradesh into two divisions: west and east. While Ms Gandhi looks after the east, Mr Scindia looks after the west.
Meanwhile, Mr Gandhi is continuing to stay out of party activities though senior Congress leaders have yet again urged him to take charge of the grand old party. In the coming days, senior leaders will meet Mr Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. They want Mr Gandhi to continue as party chief as presently there is no option in front of the party. Insiders claim that certain measures may be suggested by senior leaders like forming a collective decision-making procedure by reviving the Parliamentary Board mechanism and appointment of working presidents to assist the Congress president.
