She has managed campaigns for her mother and brother in the dust and grime of eastern Uttar Pradesh over the past few elections. But in a first, Priyanka Vadra turned at her brother's side at a polling centre for local Youth Congress office-bearers in Trichy on Wednesday.
Rahul Gandhi and she had been in Thrissur in Kerala to attend a wedding in the family of a close family aide. In the afternoon, the two reached Trichy in neighbouring Tamil Nadu to boost what was billed as an attempt to rebuild Congress at the grassroots decades after it ceased to be a major factor in the state's sharply polarised politics.
Only a few months ago, Rahul had travelled extensively in Tamil Nadu to encourage the membership drive of the party's youth wing. As a Congress general secretary, he is in charge of YC and student front NSUI.
Observers see Rahul's repeated forays into Tamil Nadu as an attempt to prepare the party as a contender for power and more space in a post-Karunanidhi scenario.
What, however, lent an element of surprise and excitement was the presence of the charismatic Priyanka. So long she has been largely confined to the adjoining parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli keeping close contact with Congress workers and people there.
Though the brother-and-sister team was in Trichy only for a few hours, their presence reportedly electrified the scene.
"Thousands of young people who had never been in politics turned up to participate in the Youth Congress poll," Congress spokesperson and MP from Tamil Nadu Jayanthi Natarajan told TOI.
According to a report from Chennai, about 13 lakh young men and women have signed up as YC members as a result of the membership drive launched last year.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Priyanka-joins-Rahul-on-Kerala-election-trail/articleshow/5695426.cms
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