Congress on Monday announced a list of 30 high-profile campaigners for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election’s first phase.
Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party MP Rahul Gandhi, and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among the names on the list of leaders who will campaign for the grand old party in the high-stakes election.
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Kanhaiya Kumar, the former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), has been added to the list of star campaigners for the Uttar Pradesh elections. Kumar joined the Congress in September last year.
After fleeing the Communist Party of India (CPI) after a storm of criticism last year, the former student leader will be campaigning for the grand old party for the first time ahead of a crucial assembly election.
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The list of star campaigners has been handed to the chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh by Congress national secretary KC Venugopal.
Here’s the list:
1. Sonia Gandhi
2. Manmohan Singh
3. Rahul Gandhi
4. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
5. Ajay Kumar Lallu
6. Aradhana Misra ‘Mona’
7. Ghulam Nabi Azad
8. Ashok Gehlot
9. Bhupinder Singh Hooda
10. Bhupesh Baghel
11. Salman Khurshid
12. Raj Babbar
13. Pramod Tiwari
14. PL Punia
15. RPN Singh
16. Sachin Pilot
17. Pradeep Jain Aditya
18. Naseemuddin Siddiqui
19. Acharya Pramod Krishnam
20. Deeper Singh Hooda
21. Varsha Gaikwad
22. Hardik Patel
23. Phulo Devi Netam
24. Supriya Shrinate
25. Imran Pratapgarhi
26. Kanhaiya Kumar
27. Praniti Shinde
28. Dheeraj Gujjar
29. Rohit Chaudhary
30. Tauqeer Alam
The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be contested in seven phases, beginning on February 10 and ending on March 7.
In Uttar Pradesh, voting will take place on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced a list of 30 campaigners for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections last week. While many prominent campaigners were included on the list, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party MPs and mother-son duo Maneka and Varun Gandhi were not.
Given the limitations of campaigning due to the development of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the parties are likely to take a phased approach to campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, including door-to-door campaigning and closed-door meetings.