Congress pulls out all stops for Rahul Gandhi's tit-for-tat roadshow in Varanasi

In order to make its vice-president Rahul Gandhi's proposed roadshow in Varanasi on Saturday a grand success, the Congress on Friday directed its state unit chiefs, chief ministers and workers to join the show.

On the last day of campaigning, Rahul will take out a roadshow in support of party candidate Ajay Rai to counter BJP's show of strength for its PM candidate Narendra Modi.

A large number of workers have reportedly already reached the temple city from Haryana, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra, and may even be joined by these states' chief ministers. Party sources said Congress members from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Bihar too are en route to Varanasi.

Many senior party leaders are expected to arrive in Varanasi to be seen with Rahul, who decided to counter Modi, who held a rally in his Amethi constituency on Tuesday, violating an unwritten understanding between parties not to enter the arena of each others' top leaders.

Modi's rally in Amethi on the last day of campaigning for the eighth phase of polling to give a final push to BJP candidate Smriti Irani's prospect has unnerved Congress leaders. After hectic deliberations at the AICC headquarters and at the party's war room at Rahul's Tughlaq Road residence in Delhi, it was decided to reciprocate in the same manner on the last day of campaigning in the final ninth phase of polling to bolster prospects of Rai and 40 other Congress candidates for constituencies going to polls on Monday.