Parties target Vadra over Priyanka
Update: 2014-01-10 09:09 GMT
New Delhi: As the clamour for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra grows louder in the Congress, the Opposition parties — particularly the BJP and AAP — have begun stacking their dossiers with controversial deals of her husband Robert Vadra.
While neither the BJP nor the AAP would launch a direct attack on Vadra herself, they plan to target her husband’s business deals to 'discredit' the Gandhi clan, sources said. While the AAP is all set to use senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka in Haryana, senior BJP leader and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje is preparing files on the various land ceiling violations by Vadra in her state.
“We are just waiting for the Congress to use Priyanka Gandhi for the party’s campaign,” a senior BJP leader said.
The Congress, on the other hand, is treading cautiously about launching Priyanka on a national platform for a few key reasons.
Her participation is expected to weaken Rahul Gandhi’s projection somewhat as it could indicate that her brother “lacks charisma and electoral appeal to counter Narendra Modi and the regional players”, it is felt.
Also, some Congress strategists feel it would be unwise to use both the Rahul and Priyanka electoral cards in this “do or die” electoral battle. Some Congress leaders also fear that Robert Vadra’s controversial deals could 'puncture' Rahul Gandhi’s anti-corruption crusade.
Khemka, who spearheaded the attack on Vadra over his controversial land deals, is expected to be used extensively by the AAP to target the Gandhi clan in Haryana and also against Priyanka Gandhi herself if she “decides to campaign for the Congress across the states”, a source said.
Vadra has so far confined herself to just Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented in Parliament by her brother and mother Sonia Gandhi.