EXCLUSIVE | Will Priyanka Gandhi contest assembly elections 2022? Congress leader responds

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday continued to maintain the suspense over her chances to fight the battle of the ballot in the upcoming assembly elections and asserted that the 'right decision would be taken at the right time.' There have been speculations that the Congress General Secretary may make her election debut in the next year's assembly polls.

Asked if she will enter the electoral fray, Priyanka Gandhi, keeping her options open, said, “It has not yet been decided. There is still some time for elections and I will think about it and take a decision later.” She was not forthcoming even on whether a woman would be projected as the CM face in the state after today's announcement and said “I will tell this later when I want.”

The Congress is banking on the big-ticket promises being made by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections in UP, with the party General Secretary focusing on the women voters in the poll-bound state.

Speaking to India TV in an exclusive conversation, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that Congress has always thought of taking women forward because it understands very well that women are the foundation of this country.

In a statement, She said, "India's first woman Prime Minister was from Congress. The first woman President of the country was also from the Congress, but not only this, under the leadership of Sonia ji, the Congress party got 33 percent reservation. 50 percent reservation in panchayats today is because Congress always fought for women."

Terming BJP's ideology as 'anti-women', Priyanka Gandhi said, "When we talk about women's power, their freedom, and when we want that such an environment should be created in the state and in the country through which women's expression can be free from bondage, then we will never talk about BJP's ideology because it is basically anti-women ideology."

Earlier on Wednesday, Priyanka Gandhi released a manifesto for women titled 'Shakti Vidhan', which it thinks could be a game-changer for the party in the elections to the 403-member UP Assembly.

Priyanka Gandhi has promised that if voted to power, the Congress will allot 40 per cent of the 20 lakh new jobs it aims to create in the state to women.

Also, businesses raising their female headcount to 50 per cent will be provided incentives, including tax exemptions.

The manifesto also promises 25 per cent reservation for women in the state police force, while each police station will have at least one woman officer and constable. A law will be made for the suspension of officers, if Section 4 of Atrocities Act is not followed within 10 days of receiving any complaint for offenses like rape.

Apart from these, every girl studying in 10+2 will get a smartphone, while girls enrolled in undergraduate programmes will get a Scooty.

As per the manifesto, women will travel free of cost in state-run buses, besides receiving three free gas cylinders every year. These are among the many promises made in 'Shakti Vidhan'.

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