Is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra really the Congress’ saviour

Shameless sycophancy in the Congress continues as the party officially appointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra- a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family and wife of controversial business mogul, Robert Vadra- as the General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East on Tuesday, ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The cheerleaders of the Congress party dubbed the move a masterstroke and strongly believe that Priyanka would instill a new energy in the party when it has to contest in a state where it is politically irrelevant. The reasons for living under the spell of such illusions are best known to them only because facts suggest otherwise.

So far there has been a very small numbers of instances when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has had the opportunity to display her political acumen. Let’s have a look at these incidents:

• In the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Priyanka Gandhi gained maximum attention when she charged the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, of practicing ‘Neech Politics’ (low-level politics). She had said, “Inhone Amethi ki dharti pe mere shaheed pitaa ka apmaan kiya hai, Amethi ki janta iss harkat ko kabhi maaf nahi karegi. Inki neech rajniti ka jawaab mere booth ke karyakarta denge… Amethi ke ek ek booth se jawaab aayega…(they have insulted my martyred father on the soil of Amethi. People of Amethi will never forgive them for this act. Workers in Amethi will reply to their low-level politics. There will be a reply from each of the booths).” She made such a harsh comment in response to Narendra Modi’s remarks where he rightly accused the Congress of practicing the politics of “arrogance” and stated the fact that when Rajiv Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s father, was general secretary of the Congress, he had publicly “abused” and “humiliated” the then Andhra Pradesh chief minister T Anjaiahat airport. 

In response to Priyanka Gandhi’s neech rajniti remark, Narendra Modi had replied, “I belong to a lower caste of society, that’s why they think my politics is low-level politics.” He had further said, “This low-level politics will rescue our country from 60 years of misrule and vote-bank politics, and wipe the tears of millions.”

Two cases were also registered against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for her ‘NeechRajniti’ remark. The BJP capitalized on the neechrajniti remark and scored massively among the lower classes, practically handing Narendra Modi his victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka was the cause of huge damage to the Congress party because of her immature remark.

• Priyanka proved time and again that the Congress party and she indulge in the practice of the politics of arrogance. “I am Rajiv Gandhi’s daughter,” this was her reply to comments reportedly made by Narendra Modi where he had said that he considers Priyanka as his daughter.  Her remarks didn’t go down well with the cultured and traditional Indians who respect their elders. Same level of arrogance was shown by the other Congress leaders as well. The then finance minister and senior Congress leader, P. Chidambaram, had said, “I am happy that Narendra Modi considers Priyanka Gandhi as his daughter but I am not sure if she will be happy to consider Modi as a father figure.”

• Priyanka Vadra is given credit for bringing Rahul and Akhilesh together in 2017. After the alliance between the Congress and SP was declared ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, senior Congress leader and the party head of UP, GulamNabi Azad, had thanked her for playing a crucial role in the tricky negotiations with the Samajwadi Party. Another senior Congress leader, Ahmed Patel, had tweeted, “Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party. Discussion was at the highest level- b/w CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi.”

After the results of UP state assembly elections were announced everyone saw the outcome of the masterstroke in which Priyanka Gandhi Vadra played a crucial role as per Congress leaders.

• So far, she has campaigned in the boroughs of the Gandhi family, Amethi and Rae Bareli, and her presence in these two constituencies has made no difference at all to the Congress party’s state. In her brother’s constituency, the difference in votes between the BJP and the Congress fell sharply in 2014. Rahul Gandhi managed to win the Amethi seat by a margin of 1.07 lakh votes. In 2009, he won the same seat by a margin of 3.70 lakh votes. In 2014, BJP’s Smriti Irani gave tough competition to the Gandhi scion. On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi, as usual, secured a huge victory in Rae Bareli by a margin of 3.50 lakh votes in 2014, but the BJP also increased its vote share in her constituency. In the 2009 general elections, the BJP’s vote share in Sonia Gandhi’s constituency was 3.82% and rose to 16.40% in 2014.
• In the 2017 UP assembly elections, Priyanaka Gandhi campaigned in Amethi and Rae Bareli as well but her presence failed to produce any tangible results for the Congress party. The Grand Old party lost 8 out of 10 seats in the Gandhi bastion with six going into the BJP’s kitty. The Congress lost all four seats- Tiloi, Jagdishpur, Gauriganj and Salon- when it contested in Amethi. In Rae Bareli, the BJP had emerged victorious on two seats, while coming close second in another two. The Congress party managed to win only two of the five assembly constituencies of Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. It was a huge embarrassment for the party. In the previous UP assembly elections also, her presence failed to make any impact. She carried out nukkad to nukkad campaigns in Rae Bareli but the party failed to win even a single seat among the Rae Bareli parliamentary seats. In 2012 UP assembly elections also the Congress won only two seats in the Gandhi bastion despite Priyanka Vadra Gandhi’s campaign. These repeated failures go on to prove she is no trump card.
• According to various media reports, Priyanka played a crucial in stitching up the post-poll alliance with the JD(S) in Karnataka against the wishes of local party units. According to media reports, she also played an important role in appointing the Congress CMs in the three states in the Hindi heartland after the assembly elections results came out. In Karnataka, neither the state unit is happy nor the JD (S) with the alliance. A new kind of political drama has ensued in Karnataka since the alliance came to existence where the CM cries in public and private meetings time and again and leaves no opportunity to curse his allied partner. People have not appreciated the Congress’ choice of CM for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Youths wanted to see young and dynamic leaders like Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia as their CM but the party appointed their old guards and other loyalists of the Congress’ as CMs of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Youths in particular are not happy with the Congress’ move. Plus, so far in such a short tenure all these representatives’ presence in office have been highly controversial.
• Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also carries the burden of the misdeeds of her husband and opposition parties would definitely make political capital out of it. They did it in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as well as in the 2017 UP assembly elections. Her husband has been involved in many controversial business deals.

Congress supporters have been demanding ‘Priyanka Lao, Congress bachao’ and now when she has been officially inducted into the Congress party, given her record, there is no solid evidence to suggest that she could ameliorate the electoral fortune of the Congress party. And also gone are the days when people used to get swayed away by the Gandhi surname. The India of today is different. The elevation of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is not likely to have a ripple effect on a large section of the voters.  Only time will tell whether the recent move of the Congress party is a masterstroke or a suicidal one by further exposing the canard around Priyanka Vadra’s role as the secret and powerful weapon for the Congress.