Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday called off her first press conference after being inducted as a Congress general secretary, expressing grief over the deaths of 30 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in a terror attack in Kashmir.
The press conference was meant to wrap up her four-day visit to the state, the first after being appointed in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
“This conference was called for political discussions. But when our jawans have been killed in a terror attack in Pulwama, I feel it would not be right if we have political discussions at this time," she told reporters at the press conference venue in Lucknow.
“I want to tell their families that every single countryman is with them in their hour of grief,” she said.
“They should have faith... we are standing by them,” she added.
A two-minute silence was also observed as a mark of grief.
The Congress leader has held a series of discussions with party workers over the past four days, with at least one session lasting through the night.
The Congress is trying to revive itself in the state where it faces a challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as an alliance of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
Although the new AICC general secretary has faced the press briefly in recent days, this was slated to be her first formal interaction.
On Thursday, Priyanka Gandhi met leaders and workers from 11 Lok Sabha constituencies, including Varanasi, the seat won with a thumping majority by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
She also held meetings with party workers from Etawah and Farrukhabad, the state's Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh said.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, the AICC general secretary for western UP, also held discussions with workers from constituencies under his charge.
According to some participants at her meetings, many workers and local leaders told Priyanka Gandhi that the party should fight the elections on its own.
On Wednesday, the Congress had announced an alliance with a UP outfit, the Mahan Dal.
