New Delhi: Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will stage a series of roadshows over the next three days covering parliamentary constituencies across Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. According to party insiders, following huge demand from various state units for Priyanka Gandhi’s campaigning, the senior leader will stage roadshows in support of Congress candidates in Rajasthan’s Alwar and Dausa seats on April 15, in favour of CPI-M leader and INDIA bloc nominee in Tripura East seat on April 16 and in western Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur seat on April 17.
As many as 102 Lok Sabha seats will go to polls under Phase 1 on April 19. Campaigning for the same will end on April 17 evening as per rules. According to party insiders, Priyanka’s first stop on Monday will be Alwar where she will stage a roadshow, along with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, in favour of party nominee Lalit Yadav.
Later in the day, she will address a huge rally in support of the party's Dausa candidate Murari Lal Meena, along with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. Dausa has been a stronghold of the Pilot family before it was reserved for the ST in the past, Sachin Pilot, his late father and former union minister Rajesh Pilot and his mother Rama Pilot have all represented Dausa in the Lok Sabha.
This time the Congress nominee Murari Lal Meena is pitted against BJP’s Kanhaiya Lal Meena, but is also facing dissent from senior leader Naresh Meena, who did not get a ticket. In Alwar, the Congress has fielded a sitting MLA and a young leader Lalit Yadav, who is pitted against BJP leader and Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
“The Congress is putting up a strong campaign in both the seats and we are confident of a win,” AICC secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Virendra Rathore told ETV Bharat.
The northeastern state of Tripura has two parliamentary seats, Tripura East and Tripura West. Priyanka Gandhi will stage a roadshow on April 16 in support of the party nominee in Tripura West seat Ashish Kumar Saha, the state unit chief, who is pitted against BJP’s Biplab Deb, former chief minister. The West seat will go to polls on April 19 in Phase 1.
In the Tripura East seat, which will go to polls on April 26 in Phase 2, CPI-M leader Rajendra Reang is fighting as INDIA bloc nominee against Kriti Debbarma of the BJP.
“Tripura politics has been marred by BJP-sponsored violence for long, but we have been putting up a good fight through democratic means. We have an alliance with the CPI-M for the Lok Sabha polls. We are very excited about Priyanka Gandhi’s upcoming roadshow, which will charge up the people and send a message across the entire Tribal state. The state has registered high rates of crimes against women and she is expected to touch upon this aspect besides other national issues,” AICC secretary in-charge of Tripura Szarita Laitphlang told ETV Bharat.
Saharanpur in western UP is the only seat being contested by the Congress out of the eight seats that will have polls in Phase 1 on April 19. Congress nominee Imran Masood is pitted against BJP’s Raghav Lakhanpal and BSP’s Majid Ali in a triangular fight. According to party insiders, Masood told party managers that his campaign was going on smoothly but a roadshow by Priyanka Gandhi on the last day of the campaign April 17 would certainly help tilt the balance in his favour.
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