Priyanka Gandhi starts Ganga Yatra with prayers and boat ride

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, on Monday started her three-day Ganga Yatra after offering prayers at a temple and the Sangam in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, a day after she released a video targeting the BJP over bread and butter issues.

Priyanka Gandhi’s Ganga Yatra, a part of her second visit to the state after being appointed the party’s general secretary, comes less than a month before the Lok Sabha election 2019.

Uttar Pradesh, the politically-crucial state which sends 80 or the most number of lawmakers to Parliament, will vote in all the seven phases from April 11 and till May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

On Sunday, in a video message, Priyanka targeted the BJP government for ‘neglecting’ youth, women, farmers and working class and said she was reaching out to people with the help of Ganga that was a support to people of Uttar Pradesh.

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Priyanka Gandhi’s visit also comes on a day Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati snubbed the Congress over its offer to leave seven out of 80 Lok Sabha seats for the SP-BSP alliance. They recently formed an alliance and left two seats – Rae Bareli and Amethi – for the Congress. The Congress has so far named 27 candidates for Uttar Pradesh.

“The Congress is free to put up candidates in all Uttar Pradesh seats, our alliance is strong enough to defeat the BJP. The Congress should not create confusion about any alliance with us,” Mayawati tweeted.

She also made it clear that the SP-BSP combine had no poll understanding with the Congress anywhere in the country. “Our supporters should not fall for doubts being created by the Congress,” the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said.

Watch | Priyanka Gandhi begins her Ganga Yatra, offers prayers in Prayagraj

The party has categorised the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state in different categories. Seventeen seats have been put in the “high-priority” category, nine are in “priority” and the remaining are in “others” category. Priyanka Gandhi is responsible for 40 of these seats and they include Prayagraj and Varanasi.

And, her Ganga Yatra is aimed at reaching out to people in the region as she prepares her party’s campaign in eastern Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha election 2019.

Priyanka Gandhi offered prayers at the Bade Hanuman temple in Prayagraj before the 140-kilometre Ganga Yatra on a steamer boat from Manaiya Ghat in Karchana tehsil of trans-Yamuna area of Prayagraj, around 30km from Sangam city. Her last stop will be at Assi Ghat in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi.

“I will undertake the journey by river route, bus, train and also go on padyatra and reach out to you through all the means. Ganga is a symbol of truth and equality and is an embodiment of Ganga-Jamuni culture. Ganga does not discriminate among the people. Ganga is a support for people of Uttar Pradesh and I am taking help of Ganga to reach out to you,” Priyanka Gandhi said in her letter ahead of the journey.

“I am closely attached to this land of UP. I am reaching out to you for a direct dialogue as no political change can begin without listening to you and sharing your pain. I assure that we will bring this change on the foundation of truth and your resolve and move ahead together to solve your problems,” she said.

Also read: Priyanka will make no difference to BJP’s poll prospects, says Yogi

In Prayagraj, she will meet the family of CRPF soldier Mahesh Yadav, who was killed in the Pulwama terror attack last month. Priyanka Gandhi will have a darshan at Vidhyachal temple and Chandrika Devi in Mirzapur. She will also meet party men, women self-help groups and hold a roadshow there on Tuesday. She will interact with weavers and members of boatmen community and others on her way.

The Congress leader will be in Prime Minister Modi’s parliamentary seat of Varanasi on Wednesday. She will pay a visit to the residence of former prime minister late Lal Bahadur Shastri in Ramnagar area and later offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple. She will also take part in a Holi Milan programme besides meeting Congress workers at the district party’s office before leaving for New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims about the development work done by him in his Lok Sabha seat and his government’s ambitious projects like the “Namami Gange” and waterways may come under close scrutiny as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra undertakes her river journey to Varanasi.

Namami Gange, or National Mission for Clean Ganga, is one of the flagship programmes of the Modi government. It was launched in June 2014 as an “integrated conservation mission” with an initial budget outlay of ₹20,000 crore to “accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of national river Ganga”.

She also interacted with party workers in state capital Lucknow on Sunday to review the state unit’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha election 2019.