Priyanka delayed political debut over worries of what Modi govt would do to Robert Vadra

File image of Robert Vadra with Priyanka Gandhi | Twitter/@irobertvadra

Congress first discussed post for Priyanka in 2017 but she feared ‘vindictive’ Modi govt would use agencies to arrest Robert Vadra on some ‘specious charge’. 

New Delhi: The Congress first broached the subject of Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra’s formal entry into politics in August 2017, but one of the many things that held her back was the fear that “a vindictive government could send (husband) Robert Vadra to jail on specious charges”, ThePrint has learnt.

A person privy to the discussions told ThePrint that Priyanka felt the Modi government would use the agencies to target Vadra.

“She knows that the Modi government is a vindictive one and that if she entered politics, the government could use the agencies to send Robert to jail on specious charges,” the friend said. “That possibility is always there. Every second day, we hear that Enforcement Directorate or CBI will arrest Robert Vadra soon.”

What could have changed her mind, the friend added, is the fact that Priyanka and Vadra have reconciled to the possibility. “Most of us, even though we have little understanding of grassroots politics, told her that ship has sailed. With elections so near, even if the government arrests Robert, the public will see through the charade,” the friend said. “I think both she and Robert and now ready for that eventuality.”

Incidentally, the Rajasthan High Court had Monday directed Vadra and his mother, Maureen, who is a partner in his Sky Light Hospitality, to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 12 February in the Bikaner land case. The court, however, has restrained the ED from arresting them.  

Party first offered her post in 2017

In August 2017, then Congress president Sonia Gandhi sent out the first signal that the party’s first family was contemplating inducting Priyanka into the organisation’s higher echelons.

After a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on 8 August 2017, Sonia Gandhi suddenly asked her party’s senior leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, if making Priyanka the working president of the party would be a good idea.

While the leaders gave a big thumbs up to the question, it has taken Priyanka almost one and a half years to take the plunge, officially that is.

It is no secret that for several years now Priyanka has been a key background player in the party. She played a pivotal role in the tie-up with the Samajwadi Party in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and in the induction of then BJP Rajya Sabha MP and current Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu into the Congress.

Political strategist and JD(U) leader Prashant Kishor, as well as several top-rung Congress leaders, are closer to her than they are to anyone else in the party, Rahul included.

Before plunge, Priyanka debated proposal 

Priyanka herself raised the subject of her taking up an organisational position within the party with some close apolitical friends in October, the friend quoted above told ThePrint.

She is also learnt to have discussed the possibility of contesting from either Amethi or Rae Bareli from where Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are MPs, respectively.

“Now that her son is studying abroad, she felt this could be the time for her to take on some formal responsibility. She strongly feels (Narendra) Modi is not the right person to lead India and that is one reason why she wanted to do it,” the person in the know of things said.

“But there were many questions in her mind, many reasons for not doing it. I guess she finally decided what she thinks is best for her.”

This friend also added, “I think she wanted us, who had nothing to do with politics, to make her feel comfortable and sure about the idea of entering the big, bad world of politics.

“But, I don’t think she needed us to tell her that she will be a hit. People see a lot of Indira Gandhi in her.”