Priyanka Gandhi

Even though Gandhi Vadra resisted her direct involvement in politics in the years prior to her official entry in to politics in 2019, she played active roles in election campaign for her mother and brother in general and assembly election. She visited her mother's and brother's constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi regularly where she dealt with the people directly, a role that made her a popular figure in the constituency with mass support, and led to the election slogan in Amethi, "Amethi ka Danka, Bitiya Priyanka" (the clarion call from Amethi is for Priyanka [to stand elections].[10] She successfully established her reputation as a good organiser, and level-headed.

Priyanka Gandhi is believed to be her mother's "chief advisor on political matters" and has said that she wrote speeches for her mother's first campaign. in the Indian general election, in 2004, she was her mother's campaign manager and helped supervise her brother Rahul Gandhi's campaign.

On 23 January 2019, Priyanka Gandhi formally entered politics after being appointed as the AICC General Secretary in charge of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh and then as the General Secretary in charge of the entire Uttar Pradesh[11] She was appointed General Secretary in charge of the entire Uttar Pradesh on 11 September 2020.[12] on 11 September 2020 preceding 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. During the period, she dived into several issues as an opposition leader and led many protests again the BJP which rules the state as well as the union government, walking shoulder to shoulder with those protesting against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, farmers protesting against three farms law on the borders of Delhi, the family of Hathras rape victim and the families of farmers killed by a speeding SUV allegedly driven by a Union minister’s son in UP.

In October 2021, Gandhi was detained twice by the UP police.[13] The first detention followed her visit to Lakhimpur Kheri in western UP where eight people were killed following clashes between protesting farmers and the convey of Union Minister Ajay Misra's son.[14] She and several other party leaders were detained at a PAC guest house in Sitapur, which was being used as a temporary jail to keep them for over 50 hrs.[14] The second detention tool place in the district of Agra where the UP Police detained her citing a ban on gatherings, while on her way to Agra to meet the family members of a man who allegedly died in police custody.[15]

Priyanka Gandhi launched Congress party's Uttar Pradesh poll campaign from Barabanki on 23 October 2021.[16][17]

In January 2022, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the Congress's manifesto for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election along with her brother Rahul Gandhi. The manifesto was focused on youth and women empowerment along with development for the state, and also promised 40% of tickets to women in upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.[18][19]

Pivoting majority on women empowerment and participation in politics, she kickstarted the "Ladki hoon, Lad Sakti hoon campaign in the state. On the day of International Women's day, she launched a rally in the state’s capital Lucknow] which, laced with several promises and hopes, saw participation of women from all over the state.[20]

Despite all her attempts to revive the party in Uttar Pradesh and bring reforms to the polity of the state, the Congress Party faced a defeat in the assembly elections; winning 2 out of the 403 assembly seats.

The joint defeat in four other states along with UP led the Congress party to brainstorm and bring in organisational and functional changes that reflected in her political journey.

Accepting the defeat in UP, during her first visit to the state after the elections, she talked of revamping the party and urged the party workers not to give up; signalling her determination to continue with her plans for the state.[21]

On 5 August 2022, she took part in Congress’s ‘Mehangai Par Halla Bol’ protest against price-rise and inflation and was detained by the Delhi police.[22]

She is also said to have played an active role in the Congress presidential election.

In December 2022, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led the Congress Party to victory over the rival Bhartiya Janta Party in the 2022 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. She spearheaded the campaign with Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel, Congress leader Sachin Pilot and leaders and workers from Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee.

On 14 October 2022, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held the first of five rallies in Solan towards a better tomorrow for the state of Himachal Pradesh - the Parivartan Pratigya Rally that ensured Congress Party’s victory in the state.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra began her journey with divine blessings from Maa Shoolini Temple in Solan district where she paid her obeisance.

Starting 31 October with a visit to the Bhootnath temple of Mandi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra promised to curb unemployment and inflation as part of 10 pre-poll promises free electricity (up to 300 units), restoration of the old pension system, and ₹680 crores as a start-up fund as part of its promises.

Her third rally took place in the Kangra district, where Priyanka Gandhi along with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on 4 November, paid obeisance at the Jwala Devi Temple before addressing a rally at Gandhi Ground of Nagrota Bagwan.

Priyanka Gandhi's public address in Kangra was based on the issue faced by the youth, farmers, and women, inflation, unemployment, and OPS.

On 7 November in Una district, addressing a political rally at Kangar in Haroli, she urged people to continue the tradition of changing governments after every five years and attack BJP's "double-engine government" questioning what they had done for the state in the last five years.

In her fifth and last rally in Sirmaur on 10 November, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra concluded her campaign by promising 10 guarantees that built the backbone of the whole campaign. A month following the campaigning and polls in the state, the Congress Party finally made government with Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu pledging as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh on 11 December 2022.