Priyanka Gandhi to visit Rae Bareli rail coach factory

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Rae Bareli on Tuesday to express solidarity with the workers of a rail coach factory who are agitating against corporatisation of the unit.

In the one-day visit to her mother and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi's constituency, Priyanka Gandhi will visit the Modern Coach Factory in Aihar area of Lalganj, where the workers are agitating against the "privatisation" of the unit, party sources said.

The Ministry of Railways has envisaged corporatisation of its seven production units and associated workshops under one entity called the Indian Railway Rolling Stock Company.

On July 1 in the Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi said raised the issue of corporatisation and accused the government of selling the country's assets to private players at a throwaway price.

Priyanka Gandhi, who will arrive in Rae Bareli on Tuesday morning, will first visit Congress MLA Aditi Singh's residence at Lalupur Chauhan village to condole the death of her father and former legislator Akhilesh Singh, the sources said.

Akhilesh Singh, a five-time MLA from Rae Bareli Sadar constituency, had died last week following prolonged illness.

Singh, had won consecutively as a Congress candidate three times, but was expelled in 2003. He won the seat as an Independent in 2007 and as a Peace Party candidate in 2016.