Priyanka calls a hush-hush meeting
of top UP Cong leaders in Delhi

Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, daughter of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, will hold a meeting of top leaders from the party's Uttar Pradesh unit in Delhi on July 17.

Complete secrecy is being maintained about the meeting as Priyanka hasn't yet accepted publicly any role in the party. Her political life has been so far restricted to looking after Amethi -- her mother's parliamentary constituency in UP.

Reliable sources told rediff.com over phone from Lucknow that the meeting is a follow-up of Priyanka's recent visits to Amethi.

The meeting will be held at Captain Satish Sharma's 34, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road bungalow. Sharma is a confidante of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Apart from the UP Pradesh Congress Committee chief Jagdambika Pal, district presidents of Amethi and Rae Bareily will also participate in the meeting. A large number of party activists are also expected to be there.

The meeting is being seen as an indication of Priyanka's willingness to accept heavier responsibilities on her mother's behalf.

Sonia, during the recently-concluded Congress chief ministers' conference in Srinagar, had told reporters that it had been left to her children -- Rahul and Priyanka -- to decide whether they wanted to join politics.

Uttar Pradesh Congress members, including the former UPCC chief Arun Kumar Singh Munna, have been for a long time now demanding that Priyanka be given a larger role to rebuild the party in the state.

"Ever since Priyankaji visited Amethi  [and Rae Bareily] in 1999 to canvass for her mother, the local youths have taken to her. She exudes the dignity and glamour of the Nehru-Gandhi family and has a direct, no-nonsense way of interacting [with party workers]. That is an asset we feel," said a senior Uttar Pradesh Congress leader.

Another leader pointed out that Priyanka had virtually 'scared' UP Chief Minister Mayawati into taking taking various measures to protect her Dalit base from the Congress onslaught in Amethi and surrounding areas.

Will the June 17 meeting then see Priyanka's formal baptism into UP politics? It remains to be seen.