Welcoming his sister's entry into active politics, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he was "very happy" that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will assist him in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Putting an end to years of speculation, the Congress on Wednesday, 23 January, announced the appointment of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the new general secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh (East).
The move came as a surprise announcement as Priyanka has often maintained that she was not “inclined” to join active politics and was happy to assist her mother Sonia Gandhi and her brother Rahul Gandhi in their political journey.
How would one describe the relationship Priyanka shares with her mother and brother? Here are some excerpts from interviews which throw light on the tight-knit Gandhi family.
‘Rahul More Politically Astute’
In an interview to Outlook magazine in April 2009, Priyanka talks about how she is “inspired” by her brother and that she was only conveying his message to the people.
“I am actually inspired by what my brother is doing, which is a more sophisticated version of what I am saying. I am only going to the people and saying this, but my brother is actually translating it into something that can be used in the (Congress) organisation. What he’s trying to do in the Youth Congress is going unnoticed, but will actually revolutionise politics.”Priyanka Gandhi in Outlook
In the same interview, she also asserts that her brother is “more astute” than her politically, and insisted that she is not saying this out of sisterly affection.
“My brother is far more astute politically than I am. And his understanding of social and economic issues is way above mine. And he has a very strategic mind. A very clear vision of the direction in which he wants to move. I am his sister, so this may sound like sisterly fondness, but Rahul is a very sophisticated thinker; he has a brilliant mind. He is quiet, so you don’t get to know about it, but sooner or later I think people will see that.”Priyanka Gandhi in Outlook
On Perception That She is Gregarious & Rahul is Shy
When asked if she considered herself “gregarious and Rahul a shy person”, in an interview to NDTV in 2010, Priyanka said that her mother and brother were “more reserved.”
“I think perhaps the difference between me, Rahul and my mother is that I’m much more open about my personal stuff in that sense. I can sit and you know somebody will ask me something very personal and I’ll just say it, which Rahul and my mother are more reserved about.”Priyanka Gandhi to NDTV
‘I Am Very Proud of My Mother’
In the same interview to NDTV, Priyanka also describes that she admires her mother the most in the world.
Referring to Sonia Gandhi taking over the reigns of the Congress party, she said:
“I’m extremely proud of my mother, I can’t tell you how much. If there’s one woman I admire in the world, it’s my mother. Because I’ve seen what it’s taken for her to do it. And when I say I wouldn’t do it out of a sense of duty, it’s that I wouldn’t have that courage to go completely against my grain because I felt it was my duty to some ideal or to my family.”Priyanka Gandhi to NDTV
Priyanka, the Advisor
The Gandhi family’s daughter also confided to helping and advising Sonia and Rahul when they asked for her inputs. She also claimed that she has prepped her mother ahead of interviews and speeches.
“I belong to a family where most members of the family are in politics, they have been, I’ve grown up in that atmosphere. I mean I’ve grown up in an atmosphere where at the dining table you discussed big political issues. Right from when you were a kid. So obviously to that extent I am. And whenever my help is required by my mother, by my brother, for small things generally, not big things, like I wrote all my mother’s speeches in her first campaign.”Priyanka Gandhi to NDTV
She has also extensively campaigned for them in Amethi and Raebareli.
Priyanka Compares Rahul to Rajiv
Addressing a rally in Amethi, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, Priyanka compared the vision of Rahul to her father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
“My father had a vision for this country. Rahul is just like him. He thinks ahead of his times.”Priyanka Gandhi in Amethi
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