Lucknow: With the Congress beginning to put its organisational and electoral machinery in place for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is assuming a more active role in the state’s affairs, signalling a renewed focus on a battleground crucial to the party’s long-term revival plans.Recent consultations between Priyanka and the party’s Uttar Pradesh leadership over the proposed state executive and election-related committees indicate that she is closely involved in shaping both the organisation and the broader electoral strategy. Her role is expected to extend beyond organisational restructuring and could influence the party’s approach to alliance negotiations with the Samajwadi Party.The appointment of Imran Masood as working president of the state Congress is being viewed as part of this process. Party insiders point out that Masood shares a close working relationship with Priyanka and is expected to have considerable influence in organisational and political decision-making in the run-up to the elections.The Congress is simultaneously working to strengthen its grassroots network and identify constituencies where it could stake a stronger claim if seat-sharing talks with the Samajwadi Party materialize. Given Priyanka’s equation with SP president Akhilesh Yadav, party leaders believe her engagement could help smoothen alliance negotiations and bridge differences over seat-sharing formulas and electoral claims.Her increasing involvement comes amid efforts by the Congress to build on its improved performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when it won six of the 17 seats it contested as part of the INDIA bloc alliance in the state. While the gains were modest in absolute terms, party leaders see them as evidence that the organisation has regained some political relevance in the state.Political observers attribute part of that recovery to the groundwork laid during Priyanka’s three-and-a-half-year stint overseeing the party’s UP affairs between 2019 and 2023. Although the Congress won only two seats in the 2022 assembly elections despite an aggressive campaign led by her, analysts contend that organisational outreach, cadre mobilisation and sustained political engagement during that period helped revive the party’s dormant network.Significantly, Priyanka is also understood to have endorsed a key organisational decision that could shape the party’s preparations for 2027: retaining the existing district and city unit chiefs instead of replacing them ahead of the polls. The Congress was due to announce a new set of district and city presidents in August, but the exercise remained pending.According to party insiders, Priyanka was informed that replacing district leadership at this stage could disrupt preparations and weaken local organisational structures when the focus should be on election readiness. She reportedly agreed with the assessment, effectively clearing the way for the party to continue with the current office-bearers.The decision has enabled the Congress to move ahead with a statewide training workshop for district and city presidents beginning Friday. The exercise is aimed at activating district units, strengthening booth-level structures, mobilising workers across constituencies and sharpening the party’s campaign on issues such as alleged anomalies in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.For the Congress, the emphasis now appears to be on organisational stability rather than experimentation. By retaining district chiefs, empowering leaders seen as close to Priyanka and intensifying booth-level preparations, the party is attempting to enter the 2027 contest with a more cohesive structure than it has had in recent years.The developments also underline Priyanka’s continuing influence in Uttar Pradesh. Even without formally taking charge of the state unit, she appears to be playing an important role in shaping the Congress’s organisational roadmap, alliance calculations and campaign strategy as preparations for the 2027 assembly polls gather pace.Political analysts say that though Congress didn’t perform well under Priyanka’s stewardship in the state in 2022, the experience that she gained while leading the vast party machinery should help her this time around.
