Ujjain: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was on Monday seen offering prayers at the renowned Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain as she set off on her campaign for the last phase of Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh. She later also held a roadshow to campaign for the Congress candidate from Ujjain Lok Sabha seat, which will vote on May 19. Results are due on May 23.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri and other party leaders accompanied her to the temple. Television footage showed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a red saree, with Kamal Nath next to her in saffron overalls.
State Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza told that Priyanka Gandhi offered prayers for over an hour at the temple after which she held a roadshow here. The response to her roadshow was overwhelming. The Congress has fielded former MLA Babulal Malviya against BJP nominee Anil Firoziya from the Ujjain seat.
After the roadshow, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will go to Ratlam where she will address an election meeting, Ms Oza said.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday caused a security scare when she climbed a barricade to greet locals in Ratlam. Seeing huge crowd waiting for her, she decided to climb over a wooden barricade that separated her and her security personnel from public at large. She was seen waving at the people here before deciding to climb over a barricade and shake hands with a few of them. This apparently impromptu decision caught security personnel accompanying the Congress leaders unawares and they quickly jumped over the barricade too to provide cover.
Special Protection Group or SPG is responsible for providing security cover to Priyanka as well as her brother, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi. The SPG security cover is meant for VVIPs and is responsible for ensuring that there is no threat at any point in time to those under its protection.
In the past, Priyanka had offered to give up privileges at airports for her and her family. She had written a letter to the SPG chief in 2014 in which she had said that including her husband Robert Vadra in the SPG protectee list was because of the insistence of SPG and Delhi Police and had not been requested by her or her husband.