The Congress unit of Uttarakhand has planned a roadshow of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi in Dehradun on April 7. Claiming it to be a significant event, the state unit leaders are terming it to be the ‘final strike’ against the BJP in the state.

The proposed roadshow would be held two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mass rally on April 5 in Dehradun.

“Priyanka Gandhi’s roadshow would be Congress’s final strike against BJP as she is a well accepted leader by the masses. Wherever she has campaigned so far, people have welcomed her with open arms,” said party state vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana.

He said, “As Priyanka has done her schooling from a well-known city-based school, she has a connection with the people living here.”

“Also, she is talking about the real issues during her campaigning in various places. Unlike, PM Modi, she is not misleading people by talking about things which are not any issue. We are confident that it would be hugely successful event,” he said. “People are waiting to see her and listen her address.”

Meanwhile state BJP’s officiating president, Naresh Bansal, ridiculed the claims of Dhasmana and likened the event to a ‘wide ball’ in cricket.

“Like in cricket, their so called final strike would be a wide ball going far away from the pitch. Their final strike would hit nowhere. Modi is a popular leader and has a public connect. No matter which leader does what here, it won’t impact BJP,” said Bansal.

Political analyst and professor of political science in Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, MM Semwal said: “Priyanka’s roadshow won’t make any difference in the polls here.”

“The event would draw crowds but would hardly succeed in turning those crowds in to votes on the polling day. Though there is no Modi current this time like in 2014 polls, but the voters don’t see any alternative to him. Also they don’t want to see an unstable government of the opposition,” Semwal said.

“It is most likely that people of the state would vote for Modi,” he said, adding: “The Congress’s final strike would be to attract crowd but no final strike on the votebank.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi would make his second visit to the state on April 6.

“Rahul has plans to visit three places in the state including Srinagar, Almora and Haridwar on April 6. The party is doing preparations to make his visit a grand one like the one on March 16 in Dehradun,” said Congress state general secretary Vijay Saraswat.

First Published: Apr 01, 2019 17:07 IST