Zero plus zero will always remain a zero, says Yogi Adityanath on Priyanka Gandhi's entry in politics

The news of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry into active politics spreaded like a wildfire on Wednesday. Starting from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Congress party president Rahul Gandhi, all political heavyweights shared their opinions on the appointment of the Gandhi scion as general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, today, took a sarcastic jibe on Priyanka Gandhi and said, “Zero plus zero will always be a zero. This is not the first time that she is taking party in elections. Both in 2014 and 2017, she lead the party. The Congress party lost the elections then and the situation will remain the same in the upcoming poll as well.”

Priyanka, on Wednesday, was appointed the general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party had won most of the Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 elections. Adityanath's constituency of Gorakhpur also falls in the region.

The Shiv Sena on Friday said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will emerge as the "queen" if she plays her cards well and held that with her induction, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has shown he will do whatever it takes to win the upcoming general elections. The BJP's ally also said that comments by ruling party leaders stating Mrs Vadra was formally inducted due to the Congress president's "failure" had no substance.

It added that the Congress chief had increased the problems of the government by raising the Rafale fighter jet purchase issue. Even if Gandhi's attacks on the Modi government over corruption in the Rafale deal are ignored, not giving him credit for the wins of the Congress in three states (in recent Assembly polls) would show a closed mindset, it said.

"In Uttar Pradesh, the SP and BSP tied up not giving space to the Congress. However, Rahul Gandhi, with a lot of patience, kept his cool," it said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamna'.

It said Gandhi played his cards well by announcing that the Congress would fight on all seats in Uttar Pradesh, while helping the SP and BSP wherever possible, and at the same time bringing Priyanka into mainstream politics.

"This will help the Congress. Even the Prime Minister had to speak over this (Priyanka's foray into politics). Even people have accepted a family, why does the stomach of some have to ache?" the editorial asked sarcastically.

It said the BJP harbours ill feelings towards the Nehru-Indira family because the former sees it as formidable competition. The editorial said the BJP was scared of a stiff challenge to it (from the Congress) as it tries to retain power.

"Priyanka bears an uncanny resemblance to her grandmother Indira Gandhi in looks and manner of speaking. Therefore, the Congress will surely benefit in the Hindi heartland," the Shiv Sena said, lauding her for agreeing to join active politics not worrying about cases against her husband Robert Vadra.

Priyanka, like Indira Gandhi, will emerge as the "queen" if she plays her cards well, the Shiv Sena said.