As Sonia, Priyanka Remain Absent, Rahul Gandhi Wages Lone Battle in Cong Assembly Poll Campaign

By By Siddharth SharmaNew Delhi [India], Oct 18 (ANI): With a day left for electioneering to end for the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is leading the party's campaign alone.Rahul has addressed seven rallies so far including the one in Haryana's Mahendragarh, which was scheduled to be addressed by the party's interim president Sonia Gandhi who pulled out after coming down with viral fever.Similarly, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among the party's star campaigners, is yet to hit the campaign trail.Rahul has campaigned for the party in both Maharashtra and Haryana.Assembly elections in both these states are the first polls after Sonia Gandhi took over as the Congress interim president following Rahul's resignation from the post in the wake of the party's debacle in this year's Lok Sabha elections.According to sources, the party units from both the states had sent a request to the party for the campaign programme of the Gandhi family.However, only Rahul Gandhi's programme got the green signal. Only one rally where Sonia Gandhi was scheduled to address in Mahendragarh was given the nod on the second last day of campaigning.A senior leader of the party told ANI that while senior leaders and Chief Ministers are campaigning, the party workers wanted both Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi to do electioneering."It would have elevated the moral high ground of the workers with their presence," the leader said.Rahul Gandhi's campaigning alone and taking on the ruling BJP in both Maharashtra and Haryana, he is still the face of the party, although he is maintaining distance from the party's routine affairs.The 49-year-old leader had missed the party's Central Election Commission for selection of candidates for the assembly polls in both the states.The assembly polls in both states are crucial for Congress and with the absence of big faces, the BJP is seen to have an edge over the grand old party.The BJP has been campaigning aggressively with many big faces like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah addressing back-to-back rallies in both the states. (ANI)

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