The Congress party made a flurry of new appointments on Wednesday, January 23. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was appointed All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of east Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and Jyotiraditya Scindia was appointed as general secretary in charge of west Uttar Pradesh by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Addressing the media over these appointments, Rahul Gandhi said:
• The Congress party is fighting an ideological battle, and the party is no longer going to play on the back foot. The Congress party will now play on the forefoot and will fight for its ideology.
• Both Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) and Jyotiraditya (Scindia) are strong youth leaders, and with them, the party aims to change the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh.
• I have all the love and respect for Mayawati Ji and Akhilesh Ji. They made their alliance, and the aim all three of us have is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress party has no enmity with either Mayawati Ji or Akhilesh Ji. But we now have to fight for the Congress party’s ideology, and thus we will fight as best we can in Uttar Pradesh. And if they are willing to come forward and have talks with us, we have no problem.
• My main point is that we are not going to play on the back foot anywhere, be it Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh. We serve the people, and we aim for progress, and wherever we can, we will play on the front foot. I think this step will usher in a new kind of idea in Uttar Pradesh and the state’s politics will witness a positive change.
• I haven’t sent Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) and Jyotiraditya (Scindia) to Uttar Pradesh for two months. I have tasked them both with a mission — to spread Congress’s ideology; an ideology that stands with the poor and the weak. And I have full faith that they both will work hard and give to the people and the youth of Uttar Pradesh what they need.