Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Lucknow next week to give a final shape to the ‘Pratigya Yatra’ programme, to be launched by the party ahead of 2022 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. The top leader is scheduled to have deliberations with the manifesto and election committees to assess the party’s poll preparedness in the state. The date of the yatra is yet to be decided, though party sources claimed that it is likely to begin on Gandhi Jayanti (October 2).

Besides, Priyanka is likely to participate in one of the training programmes being organised by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee.

On Thursday, Priyanka targeted the Yogi Adityanath government, saying that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was enacting drama ahead of the assembly polls by withdrawing cases of stubble burning against farmers.

The Congress will take out a ‘Congress Pratigya Yatra’ in the state with the tagline ‘Hum Vachan Nibhayenge’ ahead of the assembly elections due early next year. The yatra will cover a distance of 12,000 kilometres and pass through all major villages and towns.

Addressing a meeting of the Advisory and Political Affairs Committee of the UPCC on September 10, Priyanka had said that the yatra would mobilise party workers across the state and also establish a contact with people. The Congress in Uttar Pradesh has asked ticket-seekers to deposit Rs 11,000 through pay order or DD or RTGS in the party account. A circular issued on September 14 by UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said the party has authorised district and city presidents to collect the applications and in the state, two others have been given authorisation to deposit the applications along with a fee of Rs 11,000 for the upcoming assembly polls. The money, along with the application, has to be deposited by September 25. The Congress has already finalised candidates for about 90 seats for the assembly polls, including those who have been MLAs or prominent party leaders.