Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi has said that her party is open for alliances in the coming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. The in-charge of UP congress Priyanka said "we are not close-minded regarding assembly polls". However, she said that it would be too early to say anything about the alliance. The Congress general secretary said that neither she nor Rahul Gandhi is a political tourist but both are trying to strengthen the party in UP. The ruling BJP in UP had alleged that Priyanka Gandhi is a political tourist and not serious towards the issues concerning people. She said that in the coming months, most of her time will be spent in UP.
In an informal chat with the media on Sunday, the last day of her UP visit, Priyanka said that any alliance would not be made at the cost of party interests. She said that the main focus of Congress in UP at present is to build organisation at block and Nyay panchayat level. The party has so far done a lot in this regard. The Congress leader said that she aims to build a strong cadre base at the village level and efforts are going on in this direction.
Congress general secretary was on a three-day tour of UP. During this, she held series of meetings with the party office-bearers, youth, and farmers organisations. During her visit, Priyanka met with the former legislators and members of parliament. She said that many of these would be fielded in the coming UP assembly polls. On her first day of UP visit, Priyanka had staged hour-long dharna at Gandhi statue in Lucknow protesting against state-sponsored violence in panchayat polls. On Saturday, she had visited Lakhimpur to meet the woman who was molested by the BJP supporters during the nomination of panchayat polls.
