Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow this morning and kicked off a rally accompanied by her brother Congress President Rahul Gandhi and senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, seen as the Congress' big hope for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, announced her entry into politics as the party's general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh two weeks ago. Reviving Congress fortunes in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh will be a symbolic victory for the party as Allahabad has been home to the Nehru family and was also former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Sastri's Lok Sabha seat. Neighbouring Phulpur used to be India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's Lok Sabha seat.
The last two Lok Sabha elections in eastern Uttar Pradesh, for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies, were disastrous for the Congress. Congress candidates managed to fetch only around 19,000 votes each and registered only a 2% vote share in each constituency.
Eastern Uttar Pradesh currently has strongholds of both Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A 30-kilometre long roadshow is planned in Lucknow as a grand welcome for the top three Congress leaders, through some of the most congested areas of the city.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will, in the course of the next three days, conduct daily meetings over specific constituencies of the 40-odd Lok Sabha seats which fall under her purview. Sources say instead of returning to Delhi after her Lucknow visit, she may tour eastern Uttar Pradesh.