Priyanka Gandhi Vadra logs in to Twitter, earns 1 Lakh followers

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra logs in to Twitter, earns 1 Lakh followers

FPJ BureauUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 02:33 AM IST
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PTI Photo/Vijay Verma |

New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s Twitter account was unveiled at noon on Monday and what followed was a mad rush to link up with her and the Congress workers were excited to find she is following only seven. Of course, her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi tops the list, followed by her co-general secretary for Uttar Pradesh Jyotiraditya Scindia, AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel, a former political secretary of her mother Sonia Gandhi, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, his deputy CM Sachin Pilot and Congress media chief Randeep Singh Surjewala.

By the evening within eight hours, Priyanka crossed the one-lakh mark of followers, a stunning response by any standard. The veteran BSP supremo Mayawati, who joined Twitter a few days ago, has barely crossed 76, 000 so far.

Though she has mentioned her full name – Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – her Twitter handle is only @priyankagandhi. She hadn’t tweeted by the evening but some Congressmen were actively campaigning on social media to egg on supporters to ensure her following crossed 10 lakh in 24 hours. Rahul Gandhi took a long time in reaching that milestone.

Sonia Gandhi hasn’t joined Twitter so far. Rahul has 84.7 lakh followers at present and he follows 206 people, including Priyanka. Rahul follows most of the senior Congress leaders from the country, in addition to global leaders like Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and E Macron. He also follows many senior opposition leaders like Sharad Pawar, HD Kumaraswamy, Sharad Yadav, Lalu Yadav, Shatrughan Sinha, celebrities like AR Rahman, Swara Bhasker, industrialist Ratan Tata and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

All Congress chief ministers and most PCC presidents are also followed by Rahul. Many leaders were curiously analyzing the seven persons Priyanka chose to begin with, reaching conclusions according to their own perceptions and whims. The inclusion of Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot ahead of many other important leaders was fiercely debated.

While Surjewala came in the list because he is the party’s communications head, Ahmed Patel’s supremacy in the party is unquestionable. Jyotiraditya Scindia is a co-incharge of Uttar Pradesh and Rahul is the boss. In fact, Rahul was the first person she followed. Many senior leaders are eagerly waiting for her choices and the next few days will see many leaders on the tenterhooks.

Though Priyanka is looking after merely half a state, there is no denying the fact that she is seen as the most important political asset in the party along with Rahul. Many leaders hope she will create much greater interest among the masses than Rahul because of her charisma and resemblance with Indira Gandhi. The entire party is, however, relieved to see her in a complimentary role instead of Rahul’s replacement.

Even in the morning before they left for Lucknow, Priyanka and Sonia came to Rahul’s residence from where they proceeded to the airport. Uttar Pradesh is seen as an important mission and sources revealed both the siblings took mother’s blessings before leaving. In Lucknow road show too, though the crowd came primarily to see Priyanka, it was Rahul who did the talking.

Congress leaders were thrilled by the response as organising such a crowd in Uttar Pradesh, a weak spot for decades, has not been easy. Leaders from Uttar Pradesh said they were encouraged by the participation of a large number of common people; they had initially relied on mobilisation of party workers.

Though many saw in Lucknow show a sign of Congress revival, it is too early to say how prepared the organisational machinery is to capitalise on the goodwill. But there is unanimity among senior leaders and independent political observers – the Congress has the potential to make an impact and truly turn the contest triangular in the key state that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.

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