Priyanka Gandhi to spearhead Cong campaign in Rae Bareli, Amethi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will lead the Lok Sabha poll campaign in Rae Bareli and Amethi, and camp in these parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh from Monday to ensure the party's victory in the two high-profile seats, according to sources.

Ending days of suspense, the Congress on Friday announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades, and Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, will fight from Amethi.

Priyanka Gandhi has already taken command of the campaigns and will remain camped in Rae Bareli and Amethi from Monday onwards, till the end of polls. She will campaign aggressively to ensure the victory of her brother Rahul Gandhi and Sharma, sources told PTI.

With Rahul Gandhi campaigning across India, Priyanka Gandhi has taken it upon herself to take charge of the campaigns in the two family bastions.

The Congress has resolved to ensure victory from Rae Bareli with a big margin and also take back Amethi where BJP leader Smriti Irani had defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, they said.

"She (Priyanka Gandhi) will spearhead the campaign in Amethi and Rae Bareli. She will be there in the two constituencies till the election in both the constituencies," a source said.

Priyanka Gandhi will be holding hundreds of 'nukkad sabhas', meetings and door-to-door campaign programmes, the sources said.

"The centre will be Rae Bareli where she will be stationed at a guest house. From booth management to outreach, everything would be handled by her," the source said.

Already outreach has started with freedom fighters' families and those who have had familial ties with the Gandhi family for decades, the sources said.

She will also monitor the digital and social media campaign in the two constituencies, they said.

Campaigns at various levels of the organisation will be done to reach out to everyone in the two constituencies, they said.

Priyanka Gandhi will also take care of the planning and scheduling of campaigns by top leaders such as Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

She will cover about 250-300 villages and give equal time to both constituencies, the sources said.

Strong foundations that Feroze Gandhi laid in Rae Bareli were later nurtured and strengthened by his wife and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who won from the seat in 1967, 1971 and 1980, followed by friends and members of the Gandhi family.

In Amethi, after 25 years a non-Gandhi family member is in the fray to take on incumbent MP Irani.

Sharma was the key person who looked after the two prestigious constituencies on behalf of the Gandhis.

The Amethi and Rae Bareli seats will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election.