Himachal Pradesh assembly poll: A litmus test for Priyanka Gandhi's leadership

new delhi: As the high-decibel campaigning for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections is in its last leg, improving the performance of Congress in state assembly polls would be a litmus test for Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vardra's leadership, who is leading from the front to make the grand old party register a comfortable 'win' in the crucial assembly election.

At a time, when former party president Rahul Gandhi is leading Bharat Jodo Yatra, her sister is criss-crossing different parts of the hilly states to seek votes in favour of party candidates. Importantly, after Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi is single-handedly leading the campaign trail in Himachal Pradesh. According to party experts, as like Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is working very hard in Himachal and giving her best to improve the performance of the party.

In the given scenario, if the party's show in Himachal Pradesh would be on the lines of Uttar Pradesh, it would be very disappointing for the party in general and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in particular, the experts said.

It's a known fact that despite holding over 100 political rallies and 42 road shows during Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the party was able to win just two seats, which was the worst performance of the party in the state that was once ruled by Congress for several years.

In case of Himachal Pradesh too, Priyanka is the only face of Congress and the party's win or loss would largely affect the leadership abilities of the Gandhi scion, the experts have opined. They further added that, the credit of win or loss of the party would go in the account of Priyanka Gandhi only. Notably, Priyanka Gandhi has addressed mega political rallies in parliamentary constituencies as well as several small public meetings. The Congress, in its poll manifesto, has promised bringing back old pension schemes for government employees.

While taking on BJP, Priyanka had on Monday attacked BJP by saying that 63,000 government posts are lying vacant in the state. "Chhattisgarh has the lowest unemployment rate as the Congress government in the state has given 5 lakh jobs in 3 years. In Rajasthan, we gave 1.3 lakh jobs and in Himachal, 63,000 posts are vacant," she said.