Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said she will contest the 2019 elections if the party asks her to, ANI reported.
When asked if she will contest the national elections, Vadra said: “I have not decided yet. If my party asks me to contest, I will definitely contest.” She made the statement while campaigning in Amethi, the constituency from where her brother and party chief Rahul Gandhi is contesting.
Vadra, however, said her wish is to work for the party’s organisation as a “lot of work needs to be done”, PTI reported. “I have told party workers that it is very important you campaign properly this election,” she said. “You should go to each and every house, and tell people that this election is to save the nation. Not Rahul Gandhi, but the nation should win this election.”
Vadra, who is the general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh East, began the second leg of her campaign on Wednesday with the visit to Amethi and is scheduled to reach Ayodhya on Friday.
On Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s comment that she only visits temples during elections, Vadra asked how he knows where she goes and when. When asked if she will visit the makeshift temple which houses the idol of Lord Ram or Ram Lalla (infant Ram), Vadra said she will have to check her schedule.
She also hit back at those who criticised the Congress’ minimum income guarantee scheme, saying the party preaches what it practises. “See the Congress had said that it will waive off the loans of farmers, and within 10 days of coming to power in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, it was done,” she said.
During interactions with booth-level workers, Vadra reportedly said Rahul Gandhi had given her the task of ensuring that the Congress formed the government in Uttar Pradesh in 2022. She is heard asking a party worker if preparations were under way for the 2022 Assembly elections, according to ANI.
She said the Congress is fighting the elections against farm distress and lack of jobs. “I think the defining issue is that farmers are suffering,” she said. “They have got no help from the government, they say that they do not get seeds and fertilisers on time...They are in debt, and there is nobody to support them and nobody to help them.”
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