Basti: Weeks after Priyanka Gandhi’s formal entry into politics, BJP parliamentarian Harish Dwivedi on Saturday took a dig at the Congress leader while invoking her choice of dresses in a demeaning way. Upon being asked about the possible impact of Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into active politics ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Dwivedi told media persons here, “For me or the BJP, Priyanka Gandhi is not an issue. If Rahul Gandhi is a failure, Priyanka is also a failure. Everyone knows that when Priyanka Gandhi is in Delhi she wears jeans and top but dons saree and sindoor when she comes to the constituencies.”
This is not the first time that BJP leaders have courted controversy with their remarks on Priyanka Gandhi. On January 30, Surendra Singh, BJP MLA from Rohaniya constituency of Uttar Pradesh dubbed the Congress president “Raavan” and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra “Surpanakha” – the demons from Hindu epic Ramayana.
“We all know that before Ram and Ravan fought in Lanka, Ravan sent his sister Shurpanakha. It looks like (in upcoming Lok Sabha elections), Rahul will play the role of Ravan, while as Ram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making India proud across the world,” Singh had said.
Few days before Singh’s remark, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya had also taken a dig at the Congress party and criticised them for using “chocolaty faces” to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. On January 25, Bihar minister Vinod Narayan Jha, in a statement that could possibly stir up a controversy, called Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi as “a very beautiful face” who had no political achievement to her credit.
Priyanka, whose formal entry into politics has been a matter of speculation for several years was handed over the charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh In January this year as she was appointed as the General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East.