Priyanka Gandhi Takes Charge

With elections just a month away the Indian National Congress finally played its trump card by making a grand entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into the Indian politics followed by a mega roadshow where her popularity could be easily sensed. As from the press release of the Congress headquarters she is been designated as the AICC General secretary for the eastern Uttar Pradesh whereas the responsibilities of the west is been handed over to the young leader from Madhya Pradesh Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of the veteran politician Madhavrao Scindia. After the results of the 2014 General Elections the entry of Priyanka Gandhi in the Indian politics became merely a formality. The party was standing at its worst phase ever. The congress suffered more in 2014 rather it suffered in post emergency elections of 1977. Outside every congress state headquarters slogans of “Rahul hatao, Priyanka lao” could be easily heard. This meant the people clearly wanted the revival of the congress party. There is no doubt in the fact that Rahul Gandhi has shown a tremendous transformation in his political skills of which the December polls of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are the fresh examples, but still there are bulk of challenges which lies ahead of him in his political career.

For many people entry of Priyanka Gandhi was not a thing of surprise. Since last 20 years she is already campaigning for her mother and brother on the streets of  Amethi and Raebareli. She has also been a key member of the decision making body of the Congress Party operating the things from the backstage. The only thing required was the formal entry in the political arena. But the big question which comes between all this is why the Congress president chose the current time period for the formal entry of his sister into politics and also why she was allotted the constituencies of the eastern UP in particular?

Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav
Courtsey: Indian Express

The whole political atmosphere of the country is suffering from the seasonal waves of ‘Gathbandhan’ (coalition). Every party is trying its luck hard to find an alliance which can assure it maximum seats in the parliament. The Mahagathbandhan on the national level is functioning completely differently from the one at the state level. Uttar Pradesh is seen as the heart and decider of the elections in India. The party which wins UP, wins India. In 2014 general elections BJP secured a majority of seats in the UP with the Modi wave on its high, but in 2019 things seems completely different. It’s the parties of Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav i.e. Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi party respectively which can be seen dominating the upcoming polls  by most of the election surveys. Earlier it was expected that it is going to be a grand alliance in UP between Congress, BSP And SP which will together take on the Modi led BJP, but the tables turned when the ‘Bua-Bhatija’ decided to contest the elections with their own alliance thus isolating the Congress Party. Soon from a press release, congress made it clear that it is going to contest on all the 80 seats at the UP turf. With this political drama it is now a high voltage triangular contest between the BJP, Congress and the alliance of SP and BSP.

UP: Congress in last three general elections.
Courtsey: Indian Express

Eastern UP is central to the BJP themes with the politics around Ayodhya, the religious significance of sites such as Varanasi, as well as the seat of Narendra Modi and the home turf of CM Yogi. For Priyanka it presents a challenge to destroy the BJP castle as well as an opportunity to reclaim the lost legacy. As soon as the news broke out of Priyanka Gandhi joining the politics, as expected the opposition lashed out. Many targeted congress saying Priyanka has joined the Congress because Rahul Gandhi had failed out in delivering what he was expected to. As a mandatory right wing practice many targeted the Congress of its dynastic nature claiming another Nehru-Gandhi blood is set to ruin the politics of the oldest party. The worst came from some of the BJP leaders who said to media that a beautiful face cant win you votes, thus going to another down level. But this is somewhere both a good and a bad news for the BJP. Good because, the strong triangular contest will divide its votes which the BJP is going to get due to its anti-incumbency factor thus breaking the opposition’s unity. Bad because, in form of Priyanka they have got a strong challenger who is far more stronger and sensible then the current Congress leadership. But what is that one thing which makes Priyanka a strong challenger?

Priyanka Gandhi in Raebareli.
Courtsey: Deccan Chronicle

If we see the past, Priyanka can be found campaigning for her party. One thing which makes her special is her bond with the local people. The local public calls her ‘people’s leader’. She has deep roots in the public sphere. She is intelligent and carry’s a deep knowledge whereas her charismatic personality makes her a complete package of idol politician in India. But one thing above all this which favors her the most is her resemblance to her grandmother Indira Gandhi, the iron lady of India. She is been compared with her grandmother which was once a strong leader of the country and the Congress party. She has already taken her chair and started working hard for the mission 2019. In the AIPCC meetings which concluded last week, she was found working late nights and holding meetings with the local leaders and ministers of her constituencies. Her influence can be seen working as she succeeded in building an alliance with the Mahan Dal, the local party of eastern UP. Externally, the failure of BJP can also be seen working in the opposition’s favor. The UP has clearly missed the development bus while the region has suffered from the lack of development. Many areas of eastern UP are fighting diseases like encephalitis. Many popular districts are already plagued by the left wing extremism. From economic point of view region’s economy depends largely on migrant workers, people has gone out to Mumbai, Delhi and even Dubai in search of jobs. Following the implementation of the demonetization and the GST this region has also suffered the most as migrants in large numbers were forced to return home as work dried up and small units downed shutters. Recent cow slaughtering cases, mob lynching and riots put a lot of pressure on the government in power to defend its seats in the upcoming elections.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi .
Courtsey: Indian Express

Among all these positives one weakness of Priyanka are the cases running against her husband Robert Vadra. With various money laundering and corruption charges against her husband it has been a subject of news in the past and alleged badly by the opposition party. He is currently been questioned by the ED of which Priyanka called it as the conspiracy of the ruling party against her. If we see at her arrival in a long term way, it can be seen as a threat to the unity of the Congress party. No matter how close Priyanka and Rahul are, factions and factional groups always takes place in big political parties where various leaders seek for their self interest by supporting their favorable leader. Will this collision of interest brings down any leader will be a thing  to observe in the coming years.

With this lies a bulk of responsibilities and expectations on the shoulders of the debutant Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Will she be able to deliver what the party expects from her? Will she be the next Indira Gandhi of India? Is she the politician the country needs? The answer will rise as the country will proceed on its democratic journey.