Priyanka says she will campaign in Rae Bareli, Amethi

Amid growing demand in Congress for a "larger role" for her, Priyanka Gandhi today said she will campaign in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the constituencies being represented by her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul.

Priyanka has been looking after these two constituencies for quite sometime now and there have been demands in the recent past from various quarters in the party that she should extend her role beyond the confines of Rae Bareli and Amethi.

"I will be in Amethi and Rae Bareli," 42-year-old Priyanka, who was accompanied by husband Robert Vadra, said after casting her vote at a polling booth in Lodhi Estate here.
She was responding to a volley of questions about her campagning.

Party leaders have been maintaining that during every election there is a demand that Priyanka should campaign in maximum number of constituencies but she has so far not heeded to such demands.

Recently, there was a buzz about the possibility of Priyanka taking up a bigger role after she held a meeting with top party leaders at the residence of Rahul here.

However, the party had officiallly downplayed the meeting.

A few days back, senior AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi had talked about Priyanka's interest in politics early in her life.

Asked whether Priyanka is now taking more interest in political affairs of Congress, he had said, "For me this question is meaningless. As far as I know, her interest in politics started much earlier. She was keen to understand political developments and the language of politics from the very start.

"I have some proof of this also, but I don't want to mention it now. All I can say is that Rajiv Gandhi had told me something about this in 1990. That is all for the moment", Dwivedi had replied.

Later, Congress had indicated that Priyanka would herself decide her future role in the party.

Meanwhile, asked whether he would react to various allegations against him, Vadra refused to comment. "No comments," he said.