2022 UP polls: Priyanka seeks to reach out Dalits-Muslims-OBCs

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra started chalking out minority outreach in Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the most politically and electorally important states in India.

Priyanka Gandhi, who was appointed as in-charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh is likely to give more time to the state.

The first test for Priyanka Gandhi will be in 2022 when the state goes to the polls. 

Therefore, she has kept her focus on the state with issues which are relevant, speaks up for the common man.

The party seeks to reach out to the three sections-Dalits, Other Backward Class (OBCs) and Muslims who are “disillusioned” with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for their inaction over CAA and NRC.

For the past two decades, the BSP claims Dalit support, which constitute 21 per cent of the total population while the Samajwadi Party had a strong OBC Yadavs and Muslim support base.

Priyanka-Congress face of CAA

Priyanka Gandhi has emerged as the Congress’s face to the triple dose of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the ongoing National Population Register (NPR) which has triggered protests across the country.

Crackdowns on protesters have been severe in the BJP-ruled states with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest death toll during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

Priyanka Gandhi also met the family members of victims, who allegedly died and was beaten up by the police in the crackdown.

At least 19 innocents lost their lives and almost 1,113 people have been arrested and 5,558 preventive arrests have been made across Uttar Pradesh for their alleged involvement in violence.

She plays the role of a constructive opposition and has criticised the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in the state.

Congress reestablishing itself

The Congress and Samajwadi Party were in alliance for the 2017 UP assembly elections, but fared badly. After the results, both parties parted ways.

And since both the BSP and SP are in sleeping mode since the parliamentary elections of 2018, it has given the Congress, despite its weak base in Uttar Pradesh, a chance to reassert itself to defeat the BJP in the 2022 UP Assembly elections.