Lucknow: The government order asking Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to vacate a Delhi bungalow is set to speed up her shifting base to Lucknow. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will stay in party veteran Sheila Kaul’s house which has been renovated months back for her, according to politicians here.
“Work has started in the house today. It has been almost six months since the renovation was done and it is being spruced up further to suit her,” party legislator Deepak Singh said here Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Lalan Kumar indicated that the decision was made even before she got the notice to vacate the government bungalow in Delhi.
“Priyanka Gandhi is in-charge of the state and it was decided six months ago that she had to shift her base to Lucknow,” the Congress media cell convenor said. “The Kaul house has been renovated as per her requirements and she had also stayed there for three days in the past,” he added.
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The Centre asked Priyanka Gandhi to vacate her bungalow Wednesday in Lutyens’ Delhi within a month, following the withdrawal of the Special Protection Group (SPG) cover for her.
“Even if she had not been served notice, she would have shifted her base to Lucknow. She would be staying in Uttar Pradesh for 20 to 22 days a month. It was decided six months ago,” Lalan said. He said it was also decided that the Congress general secretary would undertake extensive tours of Uttar Pradesh, making the state capital her base.
Last year, during her Lucknow visit October 2 to participate in the Gandhi Jayanti march, Priyanka visited the house and spent some time there. The house is lying vacant at present with no one from the Kaul family using it.
Sheila Kaul, who died in 2015, was the sister-in-law of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. She had been a Union Minister and a governor. Her house is located on Gokhle Marg here, about three kilometres from the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters.
When Priyanka was appointed Congress general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the then party president Rahul Gandhi had said his sister has been given the responsibility as part of a long-term plan.
The Centre in November replaced the SPG cover for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka with Z-plus security by the CRPF.