Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi today made an emotional appeal to the people of Rae Bareli, telling them that she was handing over her son to them and he will not disappoint them.
Sonia, who recently vacated Rae Bareli, her Lok Sabha seat for 20 years since 2004, addressed a rally in the constituency, where Rahul Gandhi is the Congress’s candidate.
“I am handing over my son to you. Like you treated me like your own, shower the same love and affection on him. Rahul will not disappoint you,” she said.
Rahul is contesting against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh in the constituency, regarded as a Gandhi family stronghold together with neighbouring Amethi. The two seats will go to polls on May 20, in the fifth phase of polling in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The campaigning in the two seats comes to an end tomorrow.
Sonia’s emotional pitch included thanking the people of Rae Bareli for giving her the opportunity to serve as their MP for 20 years.
Calling them her family members, she said Amethi, too, has been her home, and reminded them about the century old connection of the Nehru-Gandhi family with the area.
“The tender memories of my life and roots of my family are connected to this soil for the last 100 years. This relationship is as sacred as Mother Ganga and it started with the farmers’ movement of Awadh and Rae Bareli and it continues till today,” she said.
The well attended rally was addressed by, besides Sonia, Rahul, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. It was organised jointly by the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. The bonhomie between the workers of the two parties was evident as flags of both the parties filled up the ground and the red caps identified with the SP were seen aplenty.
Akhilesh in his speech exhorted the workers of the two parties to ensure that Rahul wins by a record margin amidst slogans of “Paanch lakh paar” (more than five lakh votes).
Earlier, Rahul and Akhilesh addressed a rally in Amethi in support of Congress candidate K.L. Sharma who is taking on sitting MP Smriti Irani. There had been speculation that Rahul could contest from Amethi and Priyanka from Rae Bareli. However, the party took a strategic decision to field Rahul from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi.
Speaking in Amethi, Rahul said he was committed to equal development for Rae Bareli and Amethi. “If Rs 10 is spent in development work in Rae Bareli, the same amount would be spent in Amethi. This is my promise.”