Congress general secretary and in-charge of UP’s eastern region, Priyanka Gandhi has begun her three-day 'Ganga Yatra' from Prayagraj to Varanasi by a steamer today. Both destination and origin are of immense political significance, Prayagraj being the birthplace of her great grandfather and India's first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Varanasi is PM Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency.
A day before the initiation of the campaign, Priyanka wrote an open letter to the people of UP talking about how she would take the help of "Gangaji" to reach their doorsteps to establish a "saccha samvaad" (truthful dialogue) with them and bring forth a political change.
Her letter even pointed at Modi's reference to Ganga as his "mother" to maintain that it was "the call of Ganga Maa that had prompted him to contest from Varanasi."
Her boat ride started today at Manaiya ghat inPrayagraj district's Kachnar tehsil and will culminate at Sitamarhi ghat in Bhadohi district along the Ganga.
In the journey from Manaiya to Sitamarhi, she stopped at Dumduma Ghat, to interact with the villagers.
She has held a discussion with students on board the boat, which is being called "Sanchi Baat Priyanka Ke Saath" (Real talk with Priyanka).
Gandhi took to Twitter to share her nostalgic memories about her Grandmother, former PM of India, Indira Gandhi:
Sitting in the courtyard of Swaraj Bhawan, the room is visible where my grandmother was born. My grandmother used to tell me the story of Joan of Arc at night. Even today her words are echoed in the heart. She used to say - be fearless and all will be good.
Gandhi is scheduled to proceed to Tihar and Kaundhiyara by the road where she will be meeting the family members of slain CRPF jawan Mahesh Raj Yadav in Prayagraj and a brief stay at a guest house.
According to sources, on Wednesday, she is likely to visit the ancestral home of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri in Varanasi. She will also be highlighting the failure of the Modi government's Namami Gange project.