<p>It was as if they were expecting it to happen sooner or later.<br /><br />Congress workers thronged the party headquarters in the state capital here within minutes after Priyanka Gandhi was made the AICC general secretary and in-charge of the eastern Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.<br /><br />The workers, who carried banners and posters, which likened Priyanka to former prime minister Indira Gandhi and goddess Durga, and shouted slogans hailing her entry into active politics.<br /><br />''Indira is back'' said one of the banners hoisted in front of the Congress office here. ''Priyanka will destroy the demons of corruption,'' said another one.<br /><br />Enthusiastic party leaders and workers distributed sweets among each other and exuded confidence that Priyanka's entry would ''strengthen'' the Congress in Uttar Pradesh.<br /><br />''We had been urging the Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi to bring Priyankaji into active politics and let her campaign outside Raebareli and Amethi for a long time.....we are confident that her entry will help Congress regain its past glory in the state,'' said Rahul Awasthi, a Congress worker here.<br /><br />Awasthi said that Priyanka's entry and her becoming in-charge of the eastern region of the state would help Rahul to ''focus'' on states other than UP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.<br /><br />Another Congress worker K D Dixit also echoed similar sentiments. ''Priyankaji should have joined politics much earlier....her entry will boost the morale of the party workers,'' he said.<br /><br />In the Nehru-Gandhi bastions of Amethi and Raebareli also, Congress workers came out on the streets and distributed sweets as soon as the news of Priyanka's appointment as AICC general secretary was announced.</p>
<p>It was as if they were expecting it to happen sooner or later.<br /><br />Congress workers thronged the party headquarters in the state capital here within minutes after Priyanka Gandhi was made the AICC general secretary and in-charge of the eastern Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.<br /><br />The workers, who carried banners and posters, which likened Priyanka to former prime minister Indira Gandhi and goddess Durga, and shouted slogans hailing her entry into active politics.<br /><br />''Indira is back'' said one of the banners hoisted in front of the Congress office here. ''Priyanka will destroy the demons of corruption,'' said another one.<br /><br />Enthusiastic party leaders and workers distributed sweets among each other and exuded confidence that Priyanka's entry would ''strengthen'' the Congress in Uttar Pradesh.<br /><br />''We had been urging the Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi to bring Priyankaji into active politics and let her campaign outside Raebareli and Amethi for a long time.....we are confident that her entry will help Congress regain its past glory in the state,'' said Rahul Awasthi, a Congress worker here.<br /><br />Awasthi said that Priyanka's entry and her becoming in-charge of the eastern region of the state would help Rahul to ''focus'' on states other than UP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.<br /><br />Another Congress worker K D Dixit also echoed similar sentiments. ''Priyankaji should have joined politics much earlier....her entry will boost the morale of the party workers,'' he said.<br /><br />In the Nehru-Gandhi bastions of Amethi and Raebareli also, Congress workers came out on the streets and distributed sweets as soon as the news of Priyanka's appointment as AICC general secretary was announced.</p>
