Priyanka Gandhi Vadra entered politics in 2019.
Gorakhpur:
At a recent election rally, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a descendant of the Nehru-Gandhi family that dominates the opposition Congress party, took to the stage and asked the crowd to repeat behind her: “I am a woman, I can fight. Am.”
The slogan is at the center of the party’s effort to revive its fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, which is set to be held early next year by winning over women voters, who have long been marginalized but are starting to find a voice. are doing.
The Uttar Pradesh result will provide clues as to whether the Congress, which has dominated politics for decades, can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next general election in 2024.
PM Modi came to power in 2014 on promises of economic growth and a strong, modern India and won a re-election in 2019.
His rise is because the 136-year-old Congress has collapsed, partly because of the leadership turmoil.
Rahul Gandhi was unable to rouse voters and resigned from the post of Congress President after the general election in July 2019.
The party is now led by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, as interim president, leading some to believe it is antiquated and heavily dependent on the Gandhi family.
With its secular legacy, the Congress portrays itself as an inclusive national party and will be hoping that the appeal will be made to women led by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who entered politics only in 2019, as it Presents an alternative to PM Modi’s staunch Hindu. Agenda
A flurry of violence against women has worried voters across India, especially in Uttar Pradesh, which according to government figures faces the highest number of gender crimes in the country, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra calling for a change in women. promised.
“I want to tell women that I will fight for them, Congress party will fight for them,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Sunday to cheer for state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur bastion.
In Uttar Pradesh, the well-organized BJP has been criticized for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic along with violence against women. It is also facing protests from farmers against PM Modi’s farm liberalization.
An unusually large number of women participated in the Gorakhpur rally – about a quarter of the estimated 40,000 people – suggesting that the Congress may have a message.
40-year-old party worker Sunita Mishra, who attended the rally, said, “People, especially women, have started looking at the Congress with the hope that the party will stand with women and be their voice.”
Ms Mishra said voters had welcomed the Congress’s resolve to field 40% of women in the state’s 403 assembly constituencies, helping them sign up 50 women as party cadres over the past few days.
The party has also promised electric scooters and smartphones to girl students, free rides in government buses for all women, three free LPG cylinders per family per year and reservation in gender-based jobs.
‘Listening to the flattery’
But the Congress in Uttar Pradesh is suffering from a series of internal problems – reflecting its crisis at the national level – with rank-and-file disillusionment and resignations of senior members as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stampedes on her authority, present and former. Party officials said in the interview.
Rana Rahul Singh, former Congress candidate from Gorakhpur, recently quit the party, “The state leadership is only listening to the sycophants and the number of such people has increased in the party in the last two years.”
“The grassroot workers are being neglected in the Congress.”
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s team did not respond to an interview request from Reuters, but party spokesperson Supriya Srinet said reorganization was underway.
“Changes are uncomfortable but changes are good,” Ms. Shrinate said. “In the long run, these changes are going to work.”
A recent poll by polling agency CVoter predicted that the BJP would easily win the state elections with over 240 of its 403 seats, with the Congress finishing fourth with only three to seven seats. is likely to.
In the last state election in 2017, which the Congress fought in alliance, it won only seven out of 114 seats, while the BJP won 312.
Praveen Rai of the Center for the Study of Developing Societies think-tank, New Delhi said that the proportion of female voters has steadily increased across India and some states are now casting more women than men.
Regarding the Congress’s focus on women, Rai said, “Whether this translates into more seats or not is a bit difficult to predict.” “But I think it’s the right strategy for the party to come back and carve out some political space for itself.”
In Gorakhpur rally, District Congress President Nirmala Paswan said that she has hope from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
“Many women are approaching us to join the party,” he said. “Change is coming and women are going to bring it.”
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