Days after ‘left out ’ posters of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cropped up in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli to mock her absence from the constituency, her mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is set to visit the district on November 1 or 2.
Congress sources said Sonia, who last visited Raebareli in April 2017, will be accompanied by Rahul Gandhi on the trip.
Priyanka is seen as the heir to her mother’s Raebareli seat. The constituency has been a Congress stronghold since former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi won it in 1980.
Sonia Gandhi’s representative KL Sharma said that she is expected to meet with and address party workers in a meeting during her visit. “We are hopeful that Congress president Rahul Gandhi will also join her on her visit,” he added.
A few days earlier, the district of Raebereli was overnight flooded with hundreds of posters with Priyanka’s face on them, labelling her as an ‘emotional blackmailer’. “While many tragedies struck the constituency since her last visit, Priyanka has been reluctant to reach out to the people,” read the posters.
The posters also mentioned the absence of Priyanka from Raebareli, especially during the Unchahar boiler blast, Harchandpur rail accident and even during festivals such as Dussehra.
Raebareli and Amethi, Nehru-Gandhi family pocket boroughs, are the new battlegrounds as the BJP sees an opportunity to wrest them in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Recently, Union Minister Arun Jaitley had announced Rs 2 crore as part of MPLAD funds for Raebareli to woo the voters. In a counter, Congress leader Kapil Sibal announced Rs 2 crore for Amethi.
