Priyanka takes over campaign reins in Amethi

LUCKNOW: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul had already taken the UP electoral trail by storm. On Friday, Priyanka Vadra joined the family but with a different target altogether — to shore up the Gandhi family’s reputation in its Rae Bareli-Amethi borough.

Priyanka is faced with a tough challenge. As of now, the Congress has none of the seven Assembly seats falling in the Rae Bareli constituency, which Sonia represents in the Lok Sabha, in its kitty. In Amethi, from where Rahul is MP, only two of the five Assembly seats are with the Congress.

“It looks like the Gandhis have made the election a prestige issue. Rahul and Sonia are on whirlwind tours and roadshows all over the state,” a Congress leader said.

Priyanka has an uphill task neatly cut out for her, and considering the electoral organisational skills she demonstrated during the 2004 Lok Sabha election, she might just emerge successful. Congress sources in Rae Bareli told DNA that immediately after reaching Amethi, she conducted a lengthy meeting of all the party candidates from Sultanpur (the district in which Amethi falls) and Rae Bareli.

Sources said Priyanka was thorough in her poll planning and was taking her strategy to the grassroots level. Her strategy includes division of each constituency in sectors, and co-ordinators for each seat.