PTI, LUCKNOW: If the Congress hopes to regain lost ground in Uttar Pradesh by bringing Priyanka Gandhi into active politics, political adversaries claim she will have no impact on the crucial state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Her appointment Wednesday as Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East was dubbed a non-starter by the state BJP head Mahendra Pandey.
“There is not even a one per cent challenge,” Pandey said. “This only proves that the Congress cannot rise above the family.”
Siddharth Nath Singh, spokesperson for the Yogi Adityanath government in the state, said the appointment is an admission that in the Gandhi family “the dependence on Rahul is over”.
“This also means that Rahul Gandhi’s fall is the rise of Priyanka Gandhi in Congress,” he said.
Opposition leaders said Priyanka Gandhi has to prove her mettle at the organisational level as she has so far remained confined to the twin constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by her brother and mother.
Samajwadi Party leader Juhie Singh reacted cautiously to the development. “Purvanchal has a lot of importance in politics and Priyanka’s appointment as in-charge of this region goes on to prove that it is being taken seriously by the Congress leadership,” she said.
“We congratulate her. Our party has always been striving to bring more women and youth in politics and this is another step in this regard,” she said.
