Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to take care of 41 seats in UP, Scindia to look after 39

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday divided the total number of Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh among two division – east and west. East division will be looked after newly appointed AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She has been given the responsibility of 41 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. Whereas, Jyotiraditya Scindia – general secretary of Uttar Pradesh west – will take care of 39 parliamentary segments.

Among the constituencies placed under Priyanka Gandhi's charge were the key seats of Gorakhpur – considered to be stronghold of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath , Varanasi – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, Phulpur – a constituency once represented by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Allahabad, Lucknow, Amethi, Raebareli, Sultanpur, Barabanki, and Kushinagar.

Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Pilibhit, Dhaurahra, Kanpur, and Farrukhabad, were some of the key constituencies placed under Scindia's charge.

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A day after making her debut in Uttar Pradesh's political arena as Congress's general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Tuesday got down to business, holding a marathon strategy session at the party office in Lucknow to script her party's victory in the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Returning to the state capital after a short visit to Jaipur, where her husband Robert Vadra and his mother Maureen appeared before the ED in connection with a probe into an alleged land scam in Rajasthan's border town of Bikaner, Gandhi got cracking at the UP Congress headquarters.

Immediately after reaching the party office, she was closeted with senior leaders and office bearers of Lucknow, Unnao, Mohanlalganj, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Ambedkar Nagar, Sitapur, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Bahraich, and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies to galvanise the party's preparations for the Lok Sabha elections.

Party sources said she held meetings till late in the evening with 10-20 people each from these constituencies to gauge the situation on the ground.

Earlier on Monday, Priyanka and Scindia, along with the Congress president, had held a grand roadshow in Lucknow, raising hopes of a turnaround in the party's fortunes. Virtually launching the party's Lok Sabha poll campaign, Rahul Gandhi had asserted that it was the time to uproot the BJP and form government in the state.

"Come, let's build a new future, new politics with me. Thank you," she said in her message to the people ahead of the visit to the state. When the three leaders embarked on a roughly 25-km-long roadshow, from the airport to the party headquarters, to woo voters in the Lok Sabha polls, rose petals and marigold garlands were showered at their cavalcade.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Priyanka and Scindia were appointed AICC general secretary in January.
• Priyanka held a marathon strategy session at the party office in Lucknow.
• Party sources said Priyanka held meetings till late in the evening.