Sister act flops: How Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could not get Congress back on track in Uttar Pradesh

The Assembly elections haven’t been kind to the Congress. The Grand Old Party of India has suffered another political rout — losing in all five states.

In Uttar Pradesh, their defeat is doubly embarrassing as they fell further from their previous count of seven seats in 2017 to just two this year. What makes this even worse for the Congress is that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was in-charge of the Congress campaign.

Following the defeat, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Humbly accept the people’s verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India.”

Debacle in UP

In a 403-member Assembly, the Congress has scored just two seats, with a vote share of just 2.39 per cent. This is way below the 2017 tally of seven seats. The national party had then stitched up an alliance with the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav. Its vote share was then recorded at 5.4 per cent.

The Congress hasn’t been able to hold on to its strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi. The party candidates have lost in all the six constituencies in Rae Bareli and four in neighbouring Amethi.

The party’s defeat has also become a trending topic on Twitter, with netizens mocking the party’s performance.
Columnist and author Anand Ranganathan mimicked a flight announcement to urge Rahul Gandhi to leave.

Another posted on Twitter:

Even political leaders have commented on Congress’s poor show. Former party leader Ashwani Kumar speaking to NDTV said, “One thing is clear. The Gandhi leadership no longer delivers for the Congress. They are no longer a cementing force.”

Priyanka’s efforts go wasted

The Congress appointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as their election in-charge in the state and even called her ‘Brahmastra’. But, she has turned into a dud.

Priyanka ran an intense campaign, addressing 209 rallies and roadshows, the maximum by any leader during the Uttar Pradesh election campaign.

She also launched snazzy and attractive slogans such as ‘ladki hoon lad sakti hoon’. It turns out that those were just words.

When Priyanka announced 40 per cent reservation for women in tickets, many political pundits thought it would be a game-changer for the Congress.

However, the party turned this into a non-serious issue when it gave away tickets to victims of atrocities. The move earned accolades for the party, albeit temporarily, but none of the ‘victims’ could enlist public support and votes.

For instance, she fielded the mother of the 2017 Unnao rape survivor as a candidate for the Unnao constituency. She conceded defeat after securing just 1,426 votes whereas Pankaj Kumar of the BJP, who won here, received 1,16,609 votes.

The same is the case with anti-CAA activist Sadaf Jafar in tghe Lucknow Central seat. She was able to wrangle only 2,911 votes whereas the winner, Ravidas Mehrotra of the SP, received 1,04,118 votes.

Rasheed Kidwai, a veteran Congress watcher, a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and the author of two books on the Congress party — 24 Akbar Road and Sonia-A Biography — told news agency PTI, “Priyanka Gandhi’s foray into Uttar Pradesh has come to a naught. So, it raises a question mark. They (Rahul and Priyanka) are losing credibility in the Congress ‘parivaar’.”

It’s a really sad state of affairs for the Congress and it’s really high time they introspect on their poll strategies.

With inputs from agencies

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