![\"Saubhadra](\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/rf\/image_size_90x90\/HT\/Web\/AuthorsAndColumnists\/Pictures\/Crop\/20161122_DLI-VK-MN_Saubhadra%20Chatterji%20-004-k4jE-U20202503189NMH-250x250%40HT-Web.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSaubhadra Chatterji<\/a> Congress General Secretary and Uttar Pradesh – East incharge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with villagers on her three-day UP campaign ahead of Lok Sabha elections, in Ayodhya, Friday, March 29, 2019. (PTI file photo)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In just two months, an internal network of Congress workers has posted more than 20% increase in its membership, a fact party leaders attribute to just one factor: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra\u2019s formal entry into active politics on January 23, when she was anointed the party\u2019s general secretary and eastern Uttar Pradesh incharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her appointment, announced by her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, sent a clear signal of the Congress\u2019s intent to revive the party in the state, where the party has been in the political wilderness for three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Priyanka Gandhi\u2019s appointment, the membership of the Congress\u2019s Shakti network, which links grassroots workers to the party leadership, has crossed 6.6 million up from 5.4 million earlier, according to the party\u2019s data. The 22% increase in enrolment of volunteers in just two months marks the fastest pace of growth in the membership of Shakti, which became operational last June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is possibly more important for the Congress is that after Priyanka Gandhi\u2019s entry into the Congress leadership hierarchy, women\u2019s share of the Shakti membership has jumped to 40%, a steep rise from the 22% share they had earlier. This sharp increase among women in enrolment underlines her ability to attract more women to become Congress volunteers. Women constitute 50% of the approximately 900 million voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also read | PM Modi\u2019s speech on Mission Shakti didn\u2019t violate model code of conduct:\u2009Election Commission<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a good thing if Priyanaka Gandhi\u2019s participation has led to more women showing keen interest in political works. No doubt, there is a need for more women in Indian politics. But Priyanka\u2019s real test will be her ability to get voters in the Lok Sabha polls,\u201d said activist and former Bihar minister Parveen Amanullah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Congress\u2019s data analytics department head Praveen Chakravarthy has developed the Shakti network, giving millions of faceless supporters of the grand old party a voice in the party\u2019s decision-making. Most of the party decisions are now taken only after snap polls are conducted on the Shakti app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And like other Congress leaders, Priyanka Gandhi, too, has started tapping the wide network of the Shakti app to conduct the party\u2019s election campaign. Before she travelled to Lucknow for her first public rally in February after assuming charge, she sent a voice message to Chakravarthy to be played to workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a short and simple message. It just said that \u2018I am Priyanka Gandhi and I seek your participation in a new kind of politics. The politics which we envisage will hear voices of all people especially the poor, the downtrodden and women.\u2019 We immediately circulated it to all through Shakti,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also read | Can YSR Congress retain its 2014 Lok Sabha\u2009poll vote share?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By choosing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi sent a clear signal of his intent to revive the party in the state, where the Congress has been in the political wilderness for three decades. LOK SABHA ELECTIONS Updated: Mar 30, 2019 09:34 IST Saubhadra ChatterjiHindustan Times, New Delhi Congress General Secretary and Uttar Pradesh – East incharge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analysis-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3564,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563\/revisions\/3564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Hindustan Times, New Delhi<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Priyanka](\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/rf\/image_size_960x540\/HT\/p2\/2019\/03\/30\/Pictures\/priyanka-gandhi-vadra-in-ayodhya_51a1e0fe-5290-11e9-a540-e59d8ae6a1ea.jpg\")
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