The caste calculus
She has a striking resemblance to her grandmother, the late prime minister Indira Gandhi. Ever smiling, dimples in place, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has a fresh and youthful disposition even at 47. A shrewd communicator, and always warm and compassionate, she has in the past displayed an extraordinary connect with voters when campaigning for her mother Sonia in Rae Bareli and her brother, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in Amethi.
But can Priyanka, roped in as general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh just 100 or so days before the Lok Sabha election is scheduled, change the grand old party's fortunes in this pivotal state? Can an organisational decline of three decades be reversed in this brief interval through her induction?
Electoral compulsions
These questions are difficult to answer. It is clear that Priyanka's formal induction is an electoral consideration and a compulsion. And there is no doubt the Gandhi mystique will influence social media and add a new narrative to the Congress campaign. Left a paltry two seatsRae Bareli and
