Priyanka Gandhi takes charge of Congress strategy for 2027 Assembly elections

According to a report by Aaj Tak, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has focused her full attention on the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from the very day following the mega rally held at Ramlila Maidan. Uttar Pradesh has been a state where Priyanka Gandhi remained active even before formally entering the politics of elections. Now, observing the approach of the elections and the political heat, Priyanka Gandhi has personally taken over the responsibility of activating the party's strategy and office-bearers.

Priyanka Gandhi held a high-level closed-door meeting with top leaders of the Uttar Pradesh Congress at her residence. This important meeting included Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam, State President Aradhana Mishra, and Working President Imran Masood. During this meeting, it was decided that Congress's election committees for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will be constituted after Diwali.

Energised by the show of strength in the November rally, Priyanka Gandhi has given clear instructions to accelerate the election machinery. She stated that very little time remains for election preparations; therefore, the process of forming various important state-level committees and assigning responsibilities should be finalised immediately. In this meeting, detailed discussions were held specifically on the UP Election, Management Committee, and State Election Committee.

During the meeting, the structure of four main state-level committees was discussed in depth and names were shortlisted. These four important committees include the Manifesto Committee, Election Management Committee, Assembly Campaign Committee, and Coordination Committee. From the perspective of the UP elections, all four committees are considered extremely important. Priyanka Gandhi mentioned that these proposed lists will be sent to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for final approval. It is expected that the party will officially announce these committees immediately after Diwali.

The most crucial aspect of Congress's election preparations will be the formation of the 'Coordination Committee'. This committee will oversee seat-sharing between the Samajwadi Party and Congress, alliance seats, and better coordination at the ground level. There is a strong possibility that Priyanka Gandhi herself will be part of this committee. In addition to UP Congress leaders, senior leaders of the Congress will also be included in this committee. Priyanka Gandhi will prepare the strategy to win Mission-2027, ranging from seat-sharing with the Samajwadi Party in UP.

All points regarding how to advance the Congress campaign were discussed in the meeting. Currently, there are primarily two parties, Congress and the Samajwadi Party, in the INDIA alliance, but both parties will sit and talk regarding some other small parties. There are many such parties that do not wish to contest the elections but only want to support the INDIA alliance.

Priyanka Gandhi will play a key role in direct dialogue with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when a dispute arose between the Samajwadi Party and Congress over seats, it was Priyanka Gandhi who stepped forward to talk to Akhilesh Yadav and cleared the path for the alliance by resolving the differences.

A senior Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, stated that talks regarding the alliance with the Samajwadi Party are already running quite late. In such a situation, Priyanka Gandhi's direct entry will speed up this process. The Samajwadi Party is a large group in the state, so many complex issues will arise in the talks, but Priyanka Gandhi possesses the ability to ensure a respectable agreement for the Congress.

Even after leaving the in-charge post in 2022, Priyanka Gandhi has remained a key campaigner for the Congress at the national level, but this focused step on Uttar Pradesh is considered very significant.