Priyanka Gandhi wraps up Assam visit after meetings to finalise Congress candidates

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on February 20, wrapped up her two-day visit to Assam after holding a series of meetings with senior party leaders to finalise candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Ms. Vadra, who is the chairperson of the party’s screening committee for the Assam polls, arrived in the State on Thursday and met leaders from across districts. Deliberations reportedly continued till around 3 a.m. as she sought feedback on prospective candidates.
“I met people individually. I feel that in that way, I can get better feedback. We worked till late in the night. We will be coming again and meeting people,” she told reporters.

During her visit, she held separate meetings with members of the political affairs committee, MLAs, district presidents, heads of frontal organisations, legislature party leaders, MPs, cell heads and booth committee chiefs.

Ms. Vadra said members of the screening committee, Lok Sabha MPs Imran Masood, Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka and Sirivella Prasad, had visited all districts and interacted with party workers at various levels.
“We have tried to carry out this exercise in a better way,” she said, concluding her first visit to the State ahead of the polls, which are expected to be held in March–April.

Earlier in the day, the Wayanad MP visited Rajiv Bhawan, the State Congress headquarters, and held discussions with the party’s three working presidents. Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi had said that the first list of candidates is likely to be released by the end of this month, with around 80 nominees expected to be announced by the first week of March.

During her stay, Ms. Vadra also released a 20-point “charge sheet” against the BJP-led government in the State, alleging corruption and accusing the administration of using State machinery to instil fear among minorities.

The Congress has appointed Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Jharkhand MLA Bandhu Tirkey as senior observers for the elections.

In the 126-member Assembly, the ruling BJP currently holds 64 seats. Its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad, United People’s Party Liberal and Bodoland People’s Front, have nine, seven and three MLAs respectively.

In the Opposition, the Congress has 26 MLAs, the All India United Democratic Front has 15, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has one member. There is also one Independent legislator in the Assembly.