UP Election 2022: Priyanka Gandhi ‘surprised’ at BSP chief Mayawati’s ‘silence’; talks on Congress’ strategy

By Team Newsable | First Published Jan 22, 2022, 11:53 AM IST

Asked about the widespread perception that BSP chief Mayawati was not campaigning in her usual style in the polls and was quiet, Gandhi said she was also surprised.

Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra opened up about several topics at the surprising nonchalance of BSP chief Mayawati in the poll-bound state. Vadra in an interview with news agency ANI expressed “surprise” at the “low-profile campaign” of BSP in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and said its campaign has not picked up expected pace even though the state is in the middle of the polls.

Asked about the widespread perception that BSP chief Mayawati was not campaigning in her usual style in the polls and was quiet, Gandhi said she was also surprised.

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“I am also surprised seeing… six-seven months back we use to think that her party is not active, maybe they will start close to elections. We were also very surprised that the election has started, we are in the middle of the election, and it has not become active. As you said, (she) is very quiet, I am not able to understand,” Priyanka Gandhi said in an interview with ANI.

“It is possible that the BJP government is exerting pressure,” she added.

Also read: Assembly Elections 2022: EC to decide on ban on physical rallies in poll-bound states as COVID-19 cases surge

When questioned about her role in five poll-bound states and in other states, Priyanka Gandhi said she has campaigned in Assam and Goa.

“Wherever my party tells me, I do it,” she said. When asked about Congress’ alliance talks not being fruitful in UP and whether fighting polls on its own would be the model in other states, Priyanka Gandhi responded that pre-poll alliances or fighting polls on its own would be “dynamic policy” for the Congress.

“I can speak for Uttar Pradesh. We have experimented with alliances in the past in UP. We had an alliance in 2017 with Samajwadi Party. Before that, we had an alliance with BSP. So, in Uttar Pradesh, this is the path we have chosen. I cannot speak about other states whether the Congress party would choose this path. I think it will have a dynamic policy about this and it will take a decision according to what those decisions are,” she said.

The Election Commission of India declared the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2022 schedule, announcing voting in seven phases on the following dates: February 10 (Thursday), February 14 (Monday), February 20 (Sunday), February 23 (Wednesday), February 27 (Sunday), March 3 (Thursday) and March 7 (Monday). The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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