Notwithstanding charges of the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi pursuing “soft Hindutva”, Ms. Priyanka Vadra Gandhi is likely to begin her formal political career with a dip at the Sangam at the Kumbh Mela on February 4.
Ms. Gandhi, who will take charge as the party general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East that day, will be accompanied to the Kumbh by Mr. Gandhi.
The siblings are scheduled to hold a joint press conference in Lucknow later that day.
According to informed sources, the Gandhis have zeroed in on February 4 for the holy dip on the occasion of “Mauni Amavasya”, considered auspicious, and the day of the second “Shahi Snan”.
Siblings together
This is perhaps the first time the two Gandhis will take a dip at the Sangam, where the rivers Ganga and Yamuna meet with the mythical Saraswati.
In 2001, then Congress President Sonia Gandhi had attended the Kumbh Mela and taken a holy dip.