With the Election Commission cracking the whip on all 'outsiders' to leave the Rae Bareilly constituency, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul marched out of this political turf where he had been holding fort on his mother's behalf for nearly a fortnight.
Instead, his sister Priyanka has flown in to take charge from him.
Campaigning ends in Rae Bareilly
Priyanka says her brother Rahul's 'hard work' would ensure a massive victory for their mother Sonia in the May 8 by-election.
"I will say what everybody in this constituency knows -- whoever may come, Soniaji will win. I welcome them," Priyanka, who is her mother's election agent, tells reporters.
"There is no force which can defeat Sonia Gandhi. I invite you (the media) to name a person who can defeat her," she says.
Priyanka lavished praise on Rahul, saying he had done a good job in organising party workers by travelling through the constituency for the last 10 days. "I think the result will be good. Rahul has worked very hard...the credit goes to him," she adds.
Earlier, Priyanka chaired a meeting of Congress booth agents and asked them to ensure a big turnout by voters. "There is nothing to be worried about. The situation this time is different," she tells reporters.
Priyanka was entitled to camp in Rae Bareilly in her capacity as the 'election agent' of her mother. Her husband, Robert Vadra has also joined her, though no one knows whether he would be allowed to stay on or not.
After all, the election commission's directive issued on Friday evening clearly states that any public representative who is not a voter in Rae Bareilly and is provided with state security cannot stay in the constituency after close of campaigning on May 6.
As an election agent of her mother, Priyanka is free to go around the constituency. And she has already undertaken the task in full letter and spirit as she distributed polling kits to party workers entrusted with the charge of polling stations.
Sonia's campaign had essentially been a family affair so far. With Rahul holding fort, no senior Congress leader -- be it from Uttar Pradesh or from any other part of the country -- was allowed to pitch in. The only other Congress leader to be around for a while was Satish Sharma, the former Rae Bareilly parliamentarian, who was better known as late Rajiv Gandhi's co - pilot and a family friend.
Acording to a Congress party source, Rahul would camp in Amethi, his parliamentary constituency.
With PTI inputs
