Priyanka to begin UP campaign's second phase from Amethi

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will kick off the second leg of her three-day Lok Sabha election campaign in Uttar Pradesh from Amethi on Wednesday.

She will reach Lucknow by air on Wednesday morning from where she will travel by road to visit her brother and party President Rahul Gandhi's constituency Amethi, according to party leaders.

She will go to her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituency Rae Bareli on Thursday and visit Ayodhya on Friday before returning to New Delhi.

Her earlier plan had her beginning her visit from Ayodhya on Wednesday.

According to this plan, she was due reach the temple town in the morning, visit the prominent Hanumangarhi and Birla temples, and lead a road show through the town. The same evening, she was slated to go to Amethi, where her brother is locked in a tough fight against the BJP candidate, Union Minister Smriti Irani.

During her visits, Priyanka Gandhi will meet party workers and address public gatherings.

From March 18 to 20, she undertook a 140-km-long boat ride from Prayagraj to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, interacting with people along the way and visiting prominent places of worship.

The Congress won only two seats out of UP's 80 in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and now faces both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance.

--IANS

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