Priyanka Gandhi campaigned for the Congress now and then. She would accompany her mother and brother or attend events individually but she held no official post. Now, scant months before the 2019 general elections, she has been appointed to an official post in the party; the position of the party General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East. The news is being seen as politically hugely significant – but is it really?
#PriyankaGandhi, #PriyankaInPolitics and many other hashtags relating to Priyanka Gandhi were trending on Twitter soon after this announcement. As YouTuber and satirist Akash Bannerjee said, this should worry the BJP's IT cell and its infamous troll army.
People who are not necessarily fans of the Congress, but are strong detractors of the ruling BJP think that this will present a challenge to the status quo and provide another option to the voter. Some have called this a surgical strike; others have called it a shrewd political move timed just right.
David Frawley, American Hindu, vocal Modi supporter and the RSS’s favourite western intellectual asked this question. It is a valid one, seeing Gandhi’s lack of actual experience and the fact that she has not contested elections herself. A person not from the Gandhi family would have to work long and hard; showing exceptional talent and ability to sway voters before they could even dream of such a party post.
The BJP spokesperson on this TV show is dripping angry sarcasm. Here he speaks about what he and by extension his party, see as dynastic politics at its worst; and is at pains to point out the Gandhi scion as entitled and privileged; also as incompetent and disconnected from reality.
According to Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury, Priyanka Gandhi has been working ‘silently and selflessly’ behind the scenes for a long time. The party leadership thought that this was the right time to bring her into the forefront of things.
In the midst of all the celebration surrounding Priyanka Gandhi's elevation to a party post, many are seriously questioning whether her scam tainted husband will prove to be her Achilles heel. Vadra has been mired in landgrab controversies and has cases pending against him. In fact, the BJP had made his prosecution a poll plank before the 2014 general elections. While the government appears to have made little progress with the prosecution in the five years since, this is something that could come back to haunt Priyanka Gandhi in times to come.
Many detractors of the Congress have sneered at the elevation of Priyanka Gandhi. This, they feel is an acknowledgement of the failure of Rahul Gandhi; a move that smacks of desperation.
Some political commentators have pointed out how the Congress has utilised Priyanka effectively as a star campaigner. They have employed her personal charisma and popularity to reach out to people in the past.
According to one columnist, “Priyanka Gandhi’s empathetic public outreach” is something that the party is “counting on to revive its fortunes in UP”. Many commentators believe that the brother sister duo may be able to present a significant challenge to the Shah-Modi juggernaut.
According to popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, this news could mean that we shall now see slanderous, false and misleading posts about Priyanka Gandhi; as we have seen with Jawaharlal Nehru and other members of the Gandhi family.
Leaving aside the excitement and the antipathy towards Priyanka Gandhi's formal entry into Indian politics, this news is significant for other reasons as well. This brings her in direct conflict with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his home turf. So whether one has high expectations of the new kid on the block or dismisses her as a privileged dynast, this may be the signal of interesting times ahead.
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