Congress summons Priyanka Gandhi

India’s Congress party turns to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sister of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to head the Uttar Pradesh East section ahead of May vote.

Priyanka Gandhi has been reserved and has chosen to not actively take part in politics before, yet she enjoys popularity among the Congress cadre and the general public.

Background

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is an Indian politician. She also serves as Trustee of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. She is the daughter of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, sister of Rahul Gandhi, and granddaughter of Feroze and Indira Gandhi, making her a member of the politically prominent Nehru-Gandhi family. On 23 Jan, 2019, she was appointed General Secretary of the AICC in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh (UP) is the most populous state in the Republic of India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. With more than 200 million people, UP is an important electoral battlefield for the upcoming General Elections. In 2014, the incumbent Modi government won an unprecedented 71 seats out of 80, giving them a decisive majority.

Analysis

Indian Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi has turned to his popular younger sister as his latest weapon in an election battle against Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will oversee Congress’s parliamentary campaign in the eastern half of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, which is critical to the outcome of May’s national elections. Ms. Vadra, whose great-grandfather, grandmother and father were all Indian prime ministers, has always played an important informal role in politics, advising her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul.

Observers describe her as a more natural politician than her elder brother and frequently liken her to Indira Gandhi, her grandmother. But until now, her public campaigning has been restricted to her mother’s and brother’s parliamentary constituencies, as she devoted herself to raising her two children.

Her acceptance of a larger formal role in the campaign — as the party’s general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh — is expected to galvanise grassroots Congress workers in the state. Eighty parliamentary seats are up for grabs in Uttar Pradesh, a state often seen as the gateway to power in New Delhi.

“She is someone who is very popular on the ground still,” said Neelanjan Sircar, a political science professor at Ashoka University. “She attracts a lot of attention.” The 47-year-old’s new assignment comes just weeks after Congress’ unexpected victories in a trio of state elections in erstwhile BJP strongholds. Those successes suggested that the party, which dominated politics for decades until 2014 — was staging a comeback.

The BJP, which typically describes Mr. Gandhi as a bumbling dynastic scion, was quick to characterise Ms. Vadra’s appointment as an admission by Congress that Mr. Gandhi’s leadership was inadequate and that he was forced to turn to his more charismatic sister for help.  “Congress has accepted that Rahul Gandhi ji has failed,” Sambit Patra, a BJP spokesman, said.

Mr. Gandhi said he was thrilled to work with his sister, calling her “very capable and energetic”.  Ms. Vadra will join other young Congress leaders, including Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot — the sons of important Congress politicians — who have come to the forefront of the party.

Uttar Pradesh looks set for a fierce three-way contest between the BJP, Congress and an alliance of powerful caste-based politicians Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav. The alliance draws support from India’s lower castes.

However, despite her popularity, analysts are doubtful that her frontline role will dramatically alter Congress’ prospects in Uttar Pradesh.

Assessment

Our assessment is that the Congress deploying Priyanka Gandhi in UP (East) is a sign of challenge to the incumbent PM who won from Varanasi in Eastern UP. We believe that Priyanka Gandhi’s public appeal, her clean image and her striking resemblance to her iconic grandmother, former PM Indira Gandhi, will prove to be beneficial for the Congress party.