Can Priyanka Gandhi boost Cong prospects

Hoping to lift party morale and fortunes in the run-up to the 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has decided to bring Priyanka Gandhi Vadra out of the “family pocket borough” of Amethi-Rae Bareli for campaigning in other parts of the state.

Aware of the controversies surrounding Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra — his company is at the centre of a probe ordered by the Haryana government into alleged irregularities in grant of licences to developers in Gurgaon — the Congress is also readying plans to counter attacks from rivals.