Poster girl of Congress' 'ladki hoon...' campaign joins BJP
Priyanka Maurya—the face of Congress party's "ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" (I'm a girl and I can fight) poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh—has joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of state elections. She was reportedly unhappy over being denied a poll ticket. Maurya—the vice-president of UP Mahila Congress—was also seen at the BJP office in Lucknow on Wednesday.
- The development comes as an embarrassment to Congress as it is trying to gain ground in UP by making women issues its key poll plank.
- Congress has made "ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" its main electoral slogan to attract woman voters.
- It has also promised 40% assembly tickets to women in the upcoming UP elections.
Ahead of joining the BJP, Maurya had told Times Now that "ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" is a mere slogan. "I worked hard for the people of my constituency. We were used to attract the votes of women, but when it came to our rights, we were sidelined," she had said. She had also said that she would be joining the BJP soon.
Earlier, in a video posted on Twitter, Maurya had alleged that the "ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" campaign was a hoax. "People will say you are doing this after being denied ticket. Investigate yourself and find out," she had tweeted in Hindi.
Separately, Maurya had also questioned Congress' ticket distribution, calling it "pre-planned." "Congress used my face, my name, and my 10 lakh social media followers for the campaign...But when it came to the ticket for the upcoming election, it was given to someone else." "I didn't get the ticket because I am an OBC...and could not bribe Priyanka Gandhi's secretary Sandeep Singh," she alleged.
Last week, Maurya had told ANI that she had received a landline call asking for money. "But I denied," she said. "I want to send this message to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi that this type of work is happening on the ground."
Meanwhile, Congress has tried to downplay Maurya's disappointment, saying that her claims cannot be inferred as a flaw in the "ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" campaign. "Some people may be disappointed because they are being denied tickets, but this can in no way be inferred as a flaw in our campaign," said Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.
Assembly elections in UP will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. It is expected to be a four-corner fight among the ruling BJP, Opposition Samajwadi Party, Congress, and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP had won 325 of the 403 state assembly seats in 2017, however, it now faces a stiff challenge from Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party.
