Congressmen want Priyanka against Modi in Varanasi

NEW DELHI: With Priyanka Gandhi Vadra finally taking the political plunge, questions have quickly moved to whether she would contest the Lok Sabha polls, and from where? The obvious consideration for Priyanka is Rae Bareli, the seat held by her mother and Congress matriarch Sonia Gandhi.

There is no decision yet on Rae Bareli. It is the first choice on the table and Congress president Rahul Gandhi did not rule it out when he told reporters that it was up to Priyanka to decide whether to fight the polls. However, on Thursday, Varanasi created a flutter with demand from workers that Priyanka stake claim to the temple town that is represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is also a demand from Lucknow that she contest from the capital.

Barely a day after she formally entered politics as AICC general secretary in-charge of eastern UP, posters surfaced across the temple town in local dialect, "Kashi ki janata kare pukar, Priyanka ho saansad hamaar (People of Varanasi demand that Priyanka be our MP)" While there is no decision yet on any of these proposals, the two constituencies outside the family borough in UP are high on political symbolism.

The significance of Varanasi is that it would pit Priyanka against the saffron mascot, a high-voltage contest which would convey a national message about Congress's aggression which may help it consolidate support.