NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition party has used the emergence of Priyanka Gandhi as a star election campaigner for the troubled Congress Party to criticize the wealth amassed by her businessman husband and score points in a wrangle over crony capitalism.

Cosy ties between business and politics are a big issue in the elections after a run of scandals weakened the Congress-led government, paralyzed decision-making and stifled investment.

Gandhi, who bears a striking resemblance to her grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, is seen by many as the Congress Party’s best hope to revive its fortunes after a lacklustre campaign led by her brother, the standard-bearer for the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Halfway through the five-week election, the party thrust her into the limelight after opinion polls showed the Congress-led government was set for a crushing defeat at the hands of opposition candidate Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

She went on the offensive at the weekend, mocking the stocky Hindu nationalist’s boast that India needed a strong leader like him to bring change: “A 56-inch chest is not needed to run this country, a big heart is needed to run it,” she said.

That brought a swift response from the BJP, which stepped up its offensive on her husband, Robert Vadra, with a mocking video alleging that states ruled by the Congress had awarded him sweetheart land deals.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded an explanation for how Vadra had built up a real estate portfolio worth billions of rupees over the past five years and questioning his links to real estate developers DLF. The video showed a well-dressed Vadra working out, contrasting it with poor farmers whose land he bought.

DLF denies any wrongdoing in its dealings with Vadra.

Seeking to take the moral high ground, Congress has in turn suggested infrastructure billionaire Gautam Adani was granted favors in the state of Gujarat, where Modi has been chief minister since 2001.