Amethi, Uttar Pradesh:
After a long break from grassroots politics, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra was back in Amethi on Monday to supplement brother Rahul's efforts in mobilising votes for the Congress ahead of elections in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh.
Priyanka, who has campaigned several times in this Congress borough, flew in a chartered aircraft from Delhi to the airstrip at Fursatganj, about 35 km from Amethi. She will visit Amethi and Rae Bareli, the parliamentary constituencies of her brother and mother respectively.
Though she has no plans to take a direct plunge into campaigning for the assembly elections beginning February 8, her presence has generated excitement, with Congress leaders confident the three-day visit will give a boost to their mission.
"Priyanka has come in here in response to the popular demand of the party. I am sure her visit will be a shot in the arm for our campaign," state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi told IANS.
Priyanka drove down straight to the private guest house of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation-run Sanjay Gandhi Hospital at Munshiganj where a series of meetings were lined up with local Congress functionaries.
According to the Congress spokesperson, Priyanka will also hold one-on-on closed door talks with the candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli.
The heavily guarded guesthouse, a regular abode of the Gandhis, has been kept out of bounds for the media.