UP Congress veterans question Priyanka's leadership

Congress veterans in Uttar Pradesh, some of whom stand expelled, have questioned the leadership of party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the prevailing political scenario.

The veterans were reacting to senior party leader Salman Khurshid's suggestion that Priyanka should be the face of the party in the upcoming UP Assembly elections next year.

Former Congress minister Satyadev Tripathi said, "The Congress does not value its workers. I worked for the party non-stop, but in November 2019, I was expelled without any proper reason. Since then, no one has answered any communication from our end. We meet people on the ground and get reports. The party does not value its workers and has no connection with them."

He said the Congress General Secretary, who was the 'face' of her brother Rahul Gandhi's election campaign in Amethi in 2019, was unable to take Congress to victory because she had lost touch with the ground workers of the party. "If things continue in the Congress the way they were in 2019, the party will suffer the same fate," he said.

Former Congress MLC Siraj Mehndi, who was also expelled along with nine others in November 2019, said that the Congress leadership has turned 'arrogant' and it does not value the party leaders' opinions.

"The Congress leadership is maintaining an arrogant stance. It is a sad affair that Priyanka Gandhi comes to UP for two days like she is going on a picnic. She meets only a select group of people and not the genuine party workers. When Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, he used to meet at least a thousand people in a day.

"It is difficult to meet Sonia ji, and by chance if you meet her, she says meet Rahul. Rahul says meet Priyanka and Priyanka does not have time to meet people. The family keeps passing the baton. The biggest problem in Congress today is that the high command's touch with the ground workers has been lost... no one listens to anyone else," he said.