Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may campaign in K'taka too for LS polls: H K Patil

New Delhi: Newly appointed Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been given the charge of the party in eastern Uttar Pradesh, may campaign in Karnataka too during the Lok Sabha polls, its state campaign committee chairman H K Patil said Saturday.

The campaign for the general elections will kick-start early and the dates will be announced soon, he said. "Our party chief Rahul Gandhi will campaign. We will also invite Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," Patil told reporters here. The party's manifesto exercise is going on and all committees relevant to electioneering are already in place, he said. 

The Gandhi family has strong links with Karnataka as it is one state which has stood by the party in times of its political adversities. In 1999, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had first campaigned in Karnataka's mining belt, Bellary, where her mother Sonia Gandhi was contesting her first Lok Sabha election against BJP's Sushma Swaraj. About the Congress' campaign strategy, Patil said the focus will on educating the public about the "failures" of the BJP-led government at the Centre in fulfilling the promises made by the party during the 2014 general elections. 

Criticising the interim Budget of the Modi government, the Congress leader said the direct income support of Rs 6,000 per year to 12 crore small and marginal farmers is too less and will not help address their problems. The Government on Friday announced Rs 6,000 per year cash support to small and marginal farmers that will cost the exchequer Rs 75,000 crore annually, in a bid to provide relief to distressed farm sector.