Priyanka Gandhi Vanishes After Polls, What Magic Can She Do: Biplab Deb

Priyanka Gandhi cannot do anything in Uttar Pradesh without the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)'s help, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb said today in his assessment of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's younger sister debuting in politics. "This time SP-BSP are not with the Congress. Let us see what magic Priyanka Gandhi can do... the people of UP have already decided," Biplab Deb told reporters.

The motor mouth chief minister also said without Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi and Mayawati's BSP helping them, the Gandhis would not have won even two seats in the 2014 national election.

"This is not Priyanka Gandhi's first entry into politics. That tactic has been used. Priyanka surfaces whenever it is election time, then she vanishes. Last time too, Priyanka managed Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's elections. When she couldn't handle it, then the Congress asked SP and BSP not to field candidates. If they had, then mother and son (Sonia and Rahul Gandhi) would not have been in parliament," Mr Deb said.

Priyanka Gandhi's launch as one of the two Congress general secretaries in charge of the party's campaign in Uttar Pradesh has caused ripples ahead of the national election, due by May.

Biplab Deb said without Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi and Mayawati's BSP helping them, the Gandhis would not have won even two seats in the 2014 national election

In India's most politically vital state of Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 seats and is considered the route to power at the centre, the Congress has tasked the 47-year-old younger Gandhi with overseeing poll preps in the part that includes the Varanasi constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr Deb said he was certain that led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP would win 300 seats and "this will be the final battle of Mahabharata".