Priyanka Gandhi Vadra: Right move, right time, right place

The ‘most awaited entry in Indian politics’ has finally taken place. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been appointed as the All India Congress Committee general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East with a few months to go for the general elections. This is the right move at the right time for the grand old party and it has clearly unnerved the BJP as can be gauged from its leaders’ and spokespersons’ reaction to the announcement of the move. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has always had a certain poise and elegance about her. Her demeanour has always reflected extreme confidence in herself while being rooted at the same time. These are the hallmarks of a popular mass leader and the uncanny resemblance with her grandmother Indira Gandhi is certainly going to help. When her brother Rahul Gandhi assumed leadership of the party, the Congress had just 44 members of Parliament, its lowest tally ever.

There was the Modi wave and the massive anti-incumbency against the UPA-2 government. But since then, the party has won Punjab, has come very close to doing that in Goa and, within a year of him assuming the party’s presidency, the Congress has formed governments in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. These victories have been made possible by Rahul Gandhi’s rejigging of the organisation, his engagement with people and the youth, his revamp of the party’s social media presence, his increased focus on research and analytics among others. He has filled Congressmen, who were obviously frustrated by the drubbing of the 2014 elections, with enthusiasm and confidence.

Entrusting his sister with a crucial role in India’s largest state is likely to work as a double booster dose vis-à-vis the morale and confidence of the party workers. Also, the BJP, which had seen the polls in Uttar Pradesh as a fight between itself and the SP-BSP-RLD combine, will have to factor in a new big factor. The Congress had won 21 seats in the 2009 elections, a respectable number. Her responsibility shows the amount of importance the Congress has attached to the state. Her affable personality, natural smile and crowd-pulling abilities can galvanise the Congress in a state where it needs to build its strength again.

The challenge is no small one. There are 33 seats in UP East and 5.8 crore voters. Her presence there is also likely to tie down several BJP bigwigs to eastern UP and may hamper their campaign plans elsewhere in the country. But the impact of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry into Indian politics is likely to be felt beyond the borders of UP and in the long term. At a time when India’s identity as a secular and liberal democracy is going through its toughest test, the presence of Rahul Gandhi and his sister in Indian politics will be reassuring for those who are fighting to protect the idea of India in not just UP but in the rest of the country.