Priyanka Gandhi to revive local bodies during UP tour

New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh (east), would embark on a tour of the state later this week during which she would meet the local leadership and form new zilla and district committees which had been dissolved barely weeks after the Lok Sabha poll debacle.

Ms Gandhi Vadra had been made the General Secretary in-charge of the state two months before the Lok Sabha polls along with Madhya Pradesh strongman Jyotiraditya Scindia who was given charge of UP (West).

However, shortly after Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s resignation owning up responsibility for the party’s dismal performance at the hustings, Mr Scindia also resigned from his position.

The Congress had won only one seat in Uttar Pradesh which was the family pocket- borough of Rae Bareli from where Sonia Gandhi had contested.

Though questions were raised over the efficacy of inducting Ms Gandhi  into the battlefield so late and what results it brought, she has been very proactive since the day, her brother, Mr Gandhi reiterated that he would not take back her resignation.  Her show of strength came when after the July 17 massacre of ten tribals in Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, UP over a land dispute, she tried to meet the affected families, but was stopped and detained by the state administration.

Following this, the Gandhi family scion stayed put in the guest house where she was kept, till the time the families walked all the way down  to meet her.

The Congress general secretary also announced a separate amount of ` 10 lakh which the party would pay to the families.  On Saturday, Ms Gandhi Vadra tweeted that the money had been given.

“Following the massacre in Sonebhadra, I had wanted that their voices are heard and we let them know that they are not alone. I had also announced financial help for them and today the Congress leaders handed over the cheques to them,”she tweeted.

Ms Gandhi Vadra has also been active on twitter on a host of other issues mostly related to UP. Sources said that her final aim is to revive the Congress Party ahead of the UP Assembly polls in 2022.