Sonia is on a roll in Rae Bareli

RAE BARELI: The faint silhouettes of Sonia Gandhi’s convoy are barely visible in the searing afternoon sun. Narsingh Ram, turns around, yells and begin his run. Within minutes the Harijan hamlet empties out as men, women and children join him in the dash to the road, to join the crowd gathered to greet Sonia Gandhi.

The convoy stops, and the crowd surges towards her Tata Safari, the men raise full throated slogans, the women  shower her with flowers. Sonia waves vigorously, throws back the garlands and shakes a few hands and is off.

Sonia is on a whistle-stop tour of her constituency and from all accounts her re-election bid is on a roll. But the Congress party is taking no chances. Rahul Gandhi has been going from village to village seeking votes for his mother as have teams of local Congressmen. Sonia Gandhi herself has set a punishing schedule.

The Congress campaign is not about re-election. According to most locals and this includes from the opposition parties as well, the result is not in doubt. What the Congress is hoping to achieve here is a substantial increase in her margin of victory.

“It’s written in the stars that she will win. What we must ensure is that she wins with a record margin,” says Sanjay Mishra more popularly known as Guruji in these parts.