UP polls: Priyanka Gandhi won’t campaign any more

New Delhi: Congress general secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad made it clear that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will not campaign anymore in the state. Speaking to a TV channel, Mr Azad said, “Priyanka had taken up a role in election management which leaves no time for her to campaign.”

Ms Gandhi limited herself to only a few places in the state during the party’s entire campaign. She was active in the parliamentary constituency of her mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi. In July last year, when Mr Azad had taken charge of Uttar Pradesh for the Congress, he had said that he will convey to Priyanka Gandhi the wishes of party cadres who wanted her to campaign actively in the state.

Even party’s state chief Raj Babbar had said in November that Ms Gandhi would campaign in all 403 Assembly constituencies if she gets time. Priyanka was expected to play a prominent role in UP elections after her name had appeared in the list of 40 star campaigners. Even the senior party leaders had suggested that she would campaign for the party in state elections.

After the alliance was done between the Congress and SP, there was also talk of joint campaign of Priyanka Gandhi and Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav which fizzled out. The cadres of the Congress put up posters showing Priyanka with her brother, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav.