Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wound up her first Lucknow tour as Congress general secretary (east UP) and returned to New Delhi on Friday morning after having held marathon meetings that continued till early morning for most of the week here.

“I will be back soon,” she said before leaving for the national capital, according to party leaders. She, along with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the party general secretary (west UP), had arrived here on Monday and held a grand road show. She had cancelled her press conference on Thursday to send a message of solidarity to the families of jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

During her visit, she announced a tie-up with Mahan Dal, a small outfit with support among OBCs in select pockets of central and east UP, and inducted BJP MLA Avtar Singh Bhadana into the party. Former union minister Ramlal Rahi, whose son is a BJP MLA from Hargaon (Sitapur), returned to the party fold on Thursday.

A party functionary, who did not wish to be named, said, “Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has her own style of functioning and instant connect with the people. Her interactive sessions have energised the party workers and taken the organization to a new level. Sustaining this level and boosting party workers to win the poll will be a challenge for all of us.” “Priyanka works mainly on three points: “Suno, samjho aur samadhan karo” (listen to people, understand issues and find a solution). Priyanka has now listened to party workers and leaders alike and understood the issues deeply. She will now work on finding a solution,” said another party leader. She had built up the party organisation in Amethi and Rae Bareli over the years in a similar fashion, the leader said.

“Priyanka is not in favour of making major changes in party ahead of polls. We are, however, expecting certain changes and appointments at various levels for smooth functioning of the organisation. Both Priyanka and Scindia are appointing party leaders as incharges of Lok Sabha seats. About 41 such appointments have been already made. These incharges will hold similar interactive sessions with party men in every Lok Sabha seat,” said another leader.

Although Priyanka made it clear Congress president Rahul Gandhi would lead the party’s fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha polls, she sought feedback from the party’s Varanasi-based workers to gear up the organisation there.

“When our turn came, she began asking what all has been done in Kashi. ‘This is Lok Sabha seat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What about development there?’ was the first question she put to party men, according to Varanasi District Congress Committee president Prajanath Sharma. “We told her about the situation on the ground as nothing much has been done in Varanasi. We have requested her to visit Kashi Vishwanath, Sankat Mochan, Durga Mata and Kaal Bhairav temples,” said Sharma.

“Priyanka Gandhi connected with every party worker. She asked a party leader not to speak in English if he was comfortable in Hindi,” said Sitaram Keshri, the Varanasi City Congress Committee president. As workers from almost every area requested her to contest election from their respective Lok Sabha seat, she told them that making the party ready to contest the poll was her main agenda. “I am here to make the party ready to contest the poll,” was her reply, said another senior party leader.

First Published: Feb 16, 2019 09:42 IST