Priyanka to sail on Ganga to feel pulse of people along riverbank

After making a political buzz through a successful roadshow in the state capital last month, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appears all set to explore a new means of reaching out to the electorate -- the river route.

"It would be the first time that any leader of this stature will be reaching out to the electorate using the river route in a motorboat, getting first-hand account of the people residing in these remote riverine areas," Congress spokesman Dwijendra Tripathi told PTI.

Priyanka is all set to formally kick off campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls from the political hotbed of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Prayagraj and Varanasi, using the river route this Monday.

This will provide her an opportunity to interact the commoners and know their problems, the biggest of which is caused by recurring floods in these areas as well as the reality of Ganga cleaning, which was first launched by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Dwijendra Tripathi said.

Another Congress spokesman Anshu Tripathi said, "These villages and people have been living on the fringes since long and have been neglected by successive state governments in the last 30 years. This is an attempt by the Congress leadership to let them know its sincerity for all sections of people, including the neglected ones."