BJP MP aims 'joker' barb at Rahul over 'trump card' Priyanka

A senior BJP leader Monday took a swipe at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi with a card game reference by asking whether the latter was a "joker" if his sister Priyanka Gandhi was the opposition party's "trump card".

Saroj Pandey, BJP in charge for Maharashtra and Rajya Sabha MP, justified her card game wordplay by citing the statement of senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who had termed Priyanka Gandhi's appointment as the party's general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh as a "trump card" move.

"Congress party ke neta ne kaha, Ghulam Nabi Azad ne is baat ko kaha, ki hum turup ka ikka chalate hai... To joker se ab tak khelte the iskaa matlab tay hain (Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad says they are now playing with a trump card. So it surely means so far they were playing with a joker)," Pandey said.

She was addressing the convention of Maharashtra BJP in Jalna.

"I cannot play cards, but you can understand (the difference between) trump card and joker," she further said.

Clarifying her remark, Pandey said, "It is not that we are calling him (Rahul Gandhi) joker, but their own leaders have certified that tag on him. We are getting criticised for calling him pappu."