Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday set up a screening committee for shortlisting candidates for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Senior Congress leader Jitendra Singh was appointed chairman of the screening committee and Rajya Sabha member Deepender Singh Hooda, Maharashtra MLA Varsha Gaikwad, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, UPCC chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, Congress Legislative Party leader Aradhana Mishra Mona and all Congress secretaries in-charge of Uttar Pradesh elections as its ex-officio members.

An announcement to this effect was made by senior Congress leader KC Venugopal on Friday.

The Congress has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh for the last 30 years. In the 2017 UP assembly elections, the party could win only seven seats. The Congress candidates were also defeated in some assembly segments of the Lok Sabha constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli. Therefore, the Congress has been challenged to perform satisfactorily in this election.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday urged the Yogi Adityanath government to provide compensation to farmers for the massive damage of crops due to heavy rainfall in the state.

"Due to the heavy rains in Uttar Pradesh, there has been massive damage to the crops of farmers at many places. Another calamity has struck the farmers who have been facing the brunt of recession and inflation. I request the Uttar Pradesh government to assess the loss of farmers and give them proper compensation," Priyanka Vadra tweeted in Hindi on Friday.