Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 30: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's formal entry into active politics on January 23 has helped the Congress post more than 20% increase in its membership.
The decision to appoint Priyanka as general secretary and eastern Uttar Pradesh in charge of the Congress by her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi has indeed helped to revive the party.

According to the party's data, the membership of the Congress's Shakti network, which links grassroots workers to the party leadership, has crossed 6.6 million up from 5.4 million earlier, since Priyanka's appointment.

The 22% increase in enrolment of volunteers in just two months marks the fastest pace of growth in the membership of Shakti, which became operational last June.
It is also observed that women’s share of the Shakti membership has jumped to 40%, a steep rise from the 22% share they had earlier. This sharp increase among women in enrolment underlines Priyanka's ability to attract more women to become Congress volunteers. Women constitute 50% of the approximately 900 million voters.

The Shakti network was developed by Congress's data analytics department head Praveen Chakravarthy. The network has given millions of faceless supporters of the Congress a voice in the party's decision-making.

Before Priyanka travelled to Lucknow for her first public rally in February after assuming charge, she sent a voice message to Chakravarthy to be played to workers. The message just said that “I am Priyanka Gandhi and I seek your participation in a new kind of politics. The politics which we envisage will hear voices of all people especially the poor, the downtrodden and women.’ We immediately circulated it to all through Shakti.”

It is learnt that the Congress has been taking most of its decisions only after conducting snap polls on the Shakti app.