"...they have to comment something or the other to remain in headlines," Yogi Adityanath said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today took a dig at Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her criticism of the Uttar Pradesh police over the law and order in the state. Contending that criminals are "roaming freely in the state", the Congress general secretary had questioned whether the state government had surrendered before them.

"It is a case of sour grapes. Her party president lost from UP, so sitting in Delhi, Italy or England they have to comment something or the other to remain in headlines," the Chief Minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The reference was to Rahul Gandhi, her brother, who lost the family borough Amethi to the BJP's Smriti Irani by a huge margin.

Priyanka Gandhi was inducted into active politics in February and placed in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh as the Congress general secretary. Her counterpart in the western part of the state was Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Though there was much speculation about her contesting the national election from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi had indicated that it was her job to prepare the party's state unit for the next assembly election.

The Congress, which once had a huge presence in the state, has now been practically eradicated. Mr Gandhi's mother, Sonia Gandhi, is the sole Congress lawmaker from the state.

Despite the defeat, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been active in the state. Last week, after a video of two inmates flashing a country-made pistol at the Uttar Pradesh's Unnao jail was widely shared on social media, the government came under sharp attack.

In a takedown of the government, Priyanka Gandhi tweeted: "In entire Uttar Pradesh criminals are roaming around freely, doing whatever they wish. Criminal incidents continue to happen but it has fallen on deaf ears of the BJP government. Has the Uttar Pradesh government surrendered before criminals?"

Stung by her comments, the state police responded with data, claiming that they have fought effectively against crimes.