Priyanka’s appointment, not a sudden decision: Rahul

Bhubaneswar: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his sister Priyanka Gandhi’s appointment as the General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh was not a sudden decision as he had been discussing it with her for years now.
“The decision was taken some years back and not just 10 days ago,” Gandhi said in response to a question on her sudden appointment while speaking at a town hall style meeting here titled ‘The Odisha Dialogue’.
“I have been talking to her about this for years but earlier she would say that her children were too young and she had to be with them.
“Now that her children are at a different stage in life, with one in university; Priyanka decided to join politics,” he added.
Playing his surprise trump card, the Congress President on January 23, appointed his sister to the party in the state where the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance had pushed the Congress into a corner ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Priyanka Gandhi’s main job in the state would be to “revive the Congress’ ideology in Uttar Pradesh — the idea of Congress”, he said.