Priyanka Gandhi: Is Congress 'troubleshooter' gearing up for Raebareli Lok Sabha seat in 2024 elections?
Priyanka Gandhi played a "pivotal" role in saving the Himachal Pradesh government, sources told news agency PTI on Thursday. As the rebellion within the Himachal Congress took centre stage after the Rajya Sabha elections, Gandhi swiftly acted to prevent further damage. ALSO READ: Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra emerges from the shadows She remained in constant touch with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and senior leaders to "foil" the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 'Operation Lotus'.
She “did not allow any laxity". "Priyanka Gandhi immediately became active and took the lead herself along with senior party leaders. Senior leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda, DK Shivakumar and Bhupesh Baghel were sent as observers and given strict instructions that they had to take everyone along," the sources said.
Even the high-profile Congress leader, Vikramaditya Singh, who resigned as a Himachal minister, said he had spoken with Priyanka Gandhi about his issues and "the ball is now in the party high command's court". Priyanka Gandhi had reportedly spoken with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav over the phone on February 21 to break the deadlock on seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh and clinch an alliance, sources had told PTI. The SP had first offered the Congress 11 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Later Akhilesh Yadav's party agreed to give 17 Lok Sabha seats to the grand old party. However, the Congress wanted to contest seats which had more winnability. According to sources, an agreement was reached after the telephone conversation between Priyanka Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav.
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