Don't expect miracle from me; build booth level organisation: Priyanka Gandhi to Cong workers
New Delhi, Feb 18: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told party workers from Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand region that they should not expect a "miracle" from her and the party's performance depends on its booth-level organisation.
The AICC General Secretary Uttar Pradesh East warned the party workers that anyone found indulging in anti-party activities will be shown the door, a leader who attended the meeting said.
During the meeting, held at the Congress' war room at 15 Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, Priyanka Gandhi reviewed the booth-level organisation of the party in the region -- under which 19 Assembly and four Lok Sabha seats fall.
The four parliamentary segments in Bundelkhand are -- Jhansi-Lalitpur, Jaluan, Banda and Hamirpur.
She asked the Congress workers to strengthen the booth-level organisation of the party.
"I cannot do a miracle from above, the workers need to strengthen the party at the booth level and I need your support for strengthening the party in the state," the leader quoted Priyanka Gandhi as saying during the meeting.
The leaders told Priyanka Gandhi that she reminded them of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
They also presented a statue of Rani Laxmi Bai to Priyanka Gandhi, who said she was inspired by the erstwhile ruler of Jhansi, the leader said.
Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia were appointed AICC general secretaries for UP east and UP west respectively in January and took charge earlier this month.
The Congress leader has held a series of discussions with party workers last week in Lucknow, 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.
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BJP, TMC hail SC directions on counting of votes for West Bengal polls
Kolkata (PTI): The BJP and TMC on Saturday both hailed the SC directions on the Election Commission's circular over the deployment of central government personnel for vote counting in West Bengal.
The apex court on Saturday said no further order was necessary on the TMC's plea challenging the Calcutta High Court's dismissal of its petition against the April 13 circular.
In a social media post, BJP leader Amit Malviya said, "In yet another legal setback, the Supreme Court has refused to intervene. The Trinamool Congress had approached the court challenging the exclusion of state government employees from vote-counting supervisor duties, and had sought an urgent hearing."
"The refusal to entertain this plea underscores a clear message -- attempts to influence or cast doubt over the integrity of the counting process will not find easy validation. Another day, another judicial rebuff for Mamata Banerjee," he added.
The TMC, however, claimed that the SC directions vindicated its stand.
"The issue raised before the Hon'ble Supreme Court pertained to the implementation of the said communication in a manner whereby only Central Government/Central PSU employees were being appointed as Counting Supervisors and Counting Assistants for counting of votes," the party said in a statement.
The TMC said it was highlighted that such an interpretation and implementation of the communication would be contrary to the framework of a fair and balanced counting process.
"After hearing the parties, the Hon'ble Supreme Court directed that Clause 1 of the communication dated 13.04.2026, relating to the appointment of Counting Supervisors and Counting Assistants, must be read along with the salient feature contained in the second page of the said communication, which provides for random selection of both State Government and Central Government employees," it said.
"The Hon'ble Supreme Court has further recorded the undertaking of Mr Dama Seshadri Naidu, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the Election Commission of India that the said communication shall be followed in its letter and spirit," it added.
The TMC said that in view of the directions, it is expected that the counting of votes shall be conducted in a fair, transparent, and balanced manner.
A special bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi said the EC can choose the counting personnel, and its April 13 circular, which provides for deployment of state government employees as well, cannot be said to be incorrect.
The poll body said the apprehensions of TMC of any wrongdoing are misplaced, as the circular very clearly states that there will be a mix of central and state government employees.
The EC assured the court that the circular would be implemented in letter and spirit, and there would be state government employees also during the counting of votes on May 4.
Polling for the 294-member West Bengal assembly was held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes will be taken up on May 4.
On April 30, the Calcutta High Court dismissed the TMC's petition against the Election Commission circular, saying there was no illegality in the poll panel's decision to appoint counting supervisors and assistants from Central government and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) employees, instead of the state government staff.
