By PTI
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not figure among the party’s star campaigners for the sixth phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on March 3.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh are among those named by the party as its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh.
Sonia Gandhi has not so far campaigned in this election season even though she figures among the star campaigners of the party in some states.
She was not among the star campaigners for the assembly phase that includes constituencies falling under her Lok Sabha seat of Rae Bareli.
In the list of 30 star campaigners sent by the party to the Election Commission, the Congress has named Uttar Pradesh party chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Aradhna Misra ‘Mona’, besides Uttarakhand former chief minister Harish Rawat and Madhya Pradesh former chief minister Kamal Nath.
Among others named by the party as its star campaigners include former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot, who rebelled against its own government in the state in 2020, besides party MP Deepinder Singh Hooda, former MPs Salman Khurshid and Pramod Tiwari.
The sixth phase of assembly polls includes the districts of Ambedkar Nagar, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Deoria and Balia.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday held poll campaigns for party candidates in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh where assembly election is due on February 20.
The Congress general secretary and party affairs in-charge in the state sat atop an SUV as she held door-to-door campaigns in Orai and Kalpi of Jalaun district.
Flanked by party workers and supporters, Gandhi also visited Maudaha in Hamirpur district for the poll campaign where she made fervent pitches for Congress candidates.
Purported visuals from the rally showed when the Congress leader was passing through the Maudaha market, she spotted a young girl in the crowd who was cheering for her.
She then called the girl to her car.
Gandhi tied what party workers said was the ‘Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon’ band on the girl’s wrist before her convoy moved ahead once again.
Priyanka Gandhi, who arrived in Hamirpur’s Maudaha for a door-to-door public relations campaign, appealed to the people to vote in favour of Congress candidate Rajkumari Chandel, while in Kalpi she sought votes for Umakanti Singh.
UP Congress Committee spokesperson Krishankant Pandey said his party was enthused with the voters’ response in the first and second phase of assembly polls and claimed it was ahead of the rivals in the state.
“Priyanka Gandhi has pledged for the overall development and prosperity of the people of Uttar Pradesh with the promise letter, ‘shakti vidhan’ for women, ‘bharti vidhan’ for youth, and ‘unnati vidhan’ for all sections,” he said.
“With the public welfare promises, people are also reposing their faith in the Congress. The positive effect of this has been seen in the first two phases and Congress will certainly form government in the state,” he claimed.
Hamirpur and Jalaun in the Bundelkhand region will go to polls on February 20 during the third phase of assembly elections in the state.
The elections to the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases and votes will be counted on March 10.
