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INDIA-POLITICS-VOTE-GANDHI
‘Priyanka magic’ draws thousands at debut rally in India
LUCKNOW, India, Feb 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – India’s powerful Nehru-Gandhi
dynasty on Monday unleashed its newest star with thousands turning out to see
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra speak at her first rally as the country gears up for a
general election.
Crowds showered rose petals on the great-granddaughter of India’s founding
leader Jawaharlal Nehru as she took an open bus tour through Lucknow, capital
of the key northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The opposition Congress party is counting on the 47-year-old daughter of
assassinated premier Rajiv Gandhi to boost its campaign against nationalist
Hindu Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is expected to call an election in
April.
Priyanka and elder brother Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president, waved at
cheering supporters who chanted their names while dancing to drums. Many wore
pink t-shirts emblazoned with her picture.
At a rally she called for supporters to join a campaign to build “a new
future” for India and a “new kind of politics where everyone is a
stakeholder”.
The Nehru-Gandhi family has dominated Indian politics since independence
in 1947 but Priyanka had for years resisted calls to enter the political
fray. This ended last month when she accepted a key party post.
Priyanka opened a Twitter account Monday and drew more than 85,000
followers in hours.
Congress, tainted by scandal, was obliterated in the 2014 polls by Modi’s
Bharatiya Janata Party, is banking on “Priyanka magic” to win votes. It
especially needs a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP won 71 of the
state’s 80 seats in 2014.
Analysts say Modi faces a tougher fight this time from Congress which won
a clutch of state polls in late 2018, tapping into discontent over the lack
of new jobs and farm debt.
The prime minister has repeatedly called on voters to shrug off “family
rule” which he says has ruined India.
BSS/AFP/RY/1938 hrs