Priyanka to be Sonia's poll agent

RAE BARELI: Congress President Sonia Gandhi has appointed her daughter Priyanka Vadra as her election agent for the May 8 Lok Sabha bye election, a battle in which Congress bigwigs have kept away from campaigning.
      
The appointment of Priyanka, who was her election agent even in the 2004 general election, conforms to the practice of the Gandhi family keeping the campaign generally restricted to local Congress leaders and the family.

 

Rahul Gandhi, Member of Parliament from neighbouring Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, is the campaign manager in the election.

 

He has been touring Rae Bareli, considered the pocketborough of the Gandhi-Nehru family that she described as her karma bhoomi.

 

Sonia has made the bye-election a prestige fight by declaring that it would prove where the Opposition stood.
      
She had won the 2004 election by a margin of over 2.4 lakh votes and the party claims that it would be bettered this time.