Former Congress spokesperson Rohan Gupta on Sunday claimed that Rahul Gandhi's advisors suppressed Priyanka Gandhi's voice in the party. He said her name should have been the first for Raebareli, a Gandhi bastion, from where now Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections.
"She campaigns everywhere, does she not have the right to go to Rajya Sabha or contest Lok Sabha?" he asked while speaking to news agency ANI.
The Congress workers had been demanding Priyanka Gandhi contest from Rae Bareli and Rahul from Amethi. However, the Congress, on the last day of nomination, fielded Rahul from Raebareli and KL Sharma from Amethi.
"Raebareli and Amethi have blessed the Congress and Gandhi family for years. The strategy for these two seats should have been a priority for Congress. When Sonia Gandhi was not in Raebareli, KL Sharma was only concentrating on Raebareli. He was not involved in Amethi in 2019 but was announced as a candidate at the last moment, fearing defeat," Gupta said.
"Amethi stood with the Gandhi family for 31 years, they should not have left Amethi if it did not bless them for 5 years. The candidates for Amethi and Raebareli should have been decided on day 1. The correct decision would have been that Priyanka should have contested from Raebareli and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi," he added.
The Congress had fielded Rohan Gupta from the Ahmedabad East parliamentary seat, but he returned the party ticket mentioning his father's serious medical condition. On April 11, he joined the BJP.
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi's team, Gupta today said that the advisors around the former Congress chief have decided that he should not get the grassroots feedback. For the 99% of leaders that left Congress, there was a communication problem, they were not able to give their feedback, he said. "Rahul Gandhi got the wrong feedback about them. This happened in the last 2-3 years. These people (advisors) have a leftist ideology and they don't think about the Congress party."
"They only think of their Rajya Sabha seat and their bungalow. The advisors are talking about Bharat Jodo but they believe in 'Neta todo, aur apni Rajneeti jodo'. These people suppressed Priyanka Gandhi's voice. Her name should have been the first for Raebareli. The voice of the workers regarding Ram Temple, Sanatana, and AAP has been crushed. The reaction from the ground will come in the form of revolt on June 4," he told ANI.
Gupta is the second Congress insider who has claimed that Priyanka Gandhi has been sidelined in the party. Earleir, Acharya Pramod Krishnam had claimed that Priyanka Gandhi was being disrespected in the party. Krishnam, who was earlier with Congress but was expelled from the party, said when Congress appointed her as general secretary, she was not given any portfolio. This, he said, had never happened in the Congress' history and that Priyanka was not happy with this.
Meanwhile, speaking on his candidature from Amethi, KL Sharma said it was the decision of the party leadership because earlier it was not finalised who would contest from the seat. "The thing is that now I will defeat Smriti Irani. This is a big statement I am making today. 'Mai koi Naukri nahi kar raha Gandhi Parivar ki'. I am a politician. I came here in 1983 through the Youth Congress. I don't take salary from Congress. I am a pure politician," he said.