New Delhi: Congress party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday began a tour of Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli constituency to boost the morale of workers ahead of the electoral battle for Uttar Pradesh scheduled to happen early next year.


This comes as she faces a stiff challenge to revive Congress in Uttar Pradesh while recent exit-poll predictions do not bring much hope for the party.


During her meeting with party workers, Priyanka Gandhi said that Congress will declare candidates well in time for the state assembly elections, PTI reported a party leader as informing.


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Beginning the two-day tour of her mother's parliamentary constituency, Priyanka Gandhi first visited a Hanuman temple in Churuva on the Lucknow-Rae Bareli border and offered prayers there.


"Office bearers of the district unit and city unit of the party met Priyanka ji. Members of various frontal organisations, party candidates and zila panchayat members of the Congress also met her," Vinay Dwivedi, Spokesperson of Rae Bareli's District Congress Committee, told news agency PTI, 


He revealed that Priyanka said party candidates will be declared well in time as the declaration of candidates was rather late in the previous elections.


"She also went to Tiloi in the neighbouring district of Amethi, after some party workers from Amethi informed her about an accident. She will tour the rural area of Rae Bareli before leaving for Lucknow," he added.


Priyanka Gandhi visited Dodarpur village in Amethi's Tiloi area where three children died in a wall collapse on September 6. The Congress general secretary reached Todarpur village at around 8 pm and met family members of the deceased. Priyanka Gandhi consoled them and assured them of all possible help.


She also inquired about the well-being of two other children who were injured in the accident.


Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi also criticised the Yogi Adityanath over the use of a stock image of a Kolkata flyover in an Uttar Pradesh government advertorial, saying the people of the state have seen through their "false claims" and are going to change the chief minister and the government.



Congress Connection With Rae Bareli


Rae Bareli is the bastion of the Gandhi family back from the days of Indira Gandhi and has five assembly seats out of which two are with the Congress and the BJP each, and one is with the Samajwadi Party.


Congress president Sonia Gandhi represents the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha.


The parliamentary constituency of Rae Bareli consists of Bachhrawan (SC), Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, Sareni and Unchahar assembly segments.


In the 2017 UP assembly elections, the Congress registered wins in Harchandpur and Rae Bareli assembly constituencies. Rakesh Singh and Aditi Singh won from Harchandpur and Rae Bareli respectively. 


The Congress was reduced to seven seats in the 2017 UP assembly polls. In another shock for Congress, the then-party president Rahul Gandhi also had to face defeat at Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at the hands of Union minister Smriti Irani.


Now the grand old party has pinned its hopes on party secretary-general Priyanka Gandhi for a turnaround in the Hindi heartland.


(With Agency Inputs)