‘Priyanka will not be a factor in LS polls’

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said on Friday that Priyanka Gandhi's appointment as Congress general secretary for eastern UP will not have any consequence for the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"She (Priyanka) had campaigned in the two parliamentary polls earlier and had failed to achieve any success for the Congress," said Sharma.

Dubbing the SP-BSP alliance as "opportunist", he said that they will be rejected by the people, and the BJP will also increase its Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

As for the Ram Mandir issue, he said that for the BJP it is a "matter of faith" and not just a political issue.

"I urge Congress and other Opposition parties to make their stand clear on the issue — whether they want a Ram Mandir or Babri Masjid," he said.