Lucknow, Oct 1 (TIWN) For almost a decade before 2019, the refrain in the Uttar Pradesh Congress was 'Priyanka lao, desh bachao' and 'Desh ki aandhi hai, aaj ki Indira Gandhi hai'.

As the weeks rolled by and the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in Amethi in the Lok Sabha elections, things began changing.

The then UP Congress president Raj Babbar put in his papers, Priyanka shut her doors to veterans, Ajay Kumar Lallu became the new UPCC president and finally Priyanka Gandhi's coterie led by her personal secretary Sandeep Singh took over the UP Congress completely.

The arrogance and dominance of Sandeep Singh and his men created a turmoil within the party.

Ten senior Congress leaders were expelled merely because they held a meeting to celebrate Nehru Jayanti on November 14, 2019.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi refused to meet the veterans which further emboldened the 'emerging coterie' within the party.

Being brusque, abusive and arrogant was the new behaviour code.

Expulsions became the order of the day and the young and the old were told to keep away.

Priyanka's visits to UP were closely guarded by loyalists and no one had any access to the leader.

As the 2022 assembly elections approached, Priyanka launched the ambitious campaign of 'Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon' that went completely awry with the party giving tickets to women who were totally undeserving.

They got tickets only because they were women.