| Having taken charge of his mother Sonia Gandhi's campaign on this Nehru-Gandhi family turf, he will hope for a bigger victory margin this time to prove his organisational and electoral skills, according to party leaders. |
| Sonia, who is seeking reelection after vacating this seat in the wake of the office-of-profit controversy, had defeated her nearest rival, the Samajwadi Party candidate, by 2.5 lakh votes last time. |
| Congress leaders expect to improve on this tally this time, what with the BJP fielding a reluctant Vinay Katiyar and the SP choosing a greenhorn, Rajkumar Choudhury, to put up a fight against the Congress president. |
| The results will come ahead of an organisational reshuffle in which there will be renewed pressure on the party leadership to induct the Amethi MP as a member of the Congress Working Committee and/or as AICC general secretary. |
| "There will be changes in the organisation after the Assembly election, but it is up to him (Rahul Gandhi) to decide his role," senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes told Business Standard. |
| Under tremendous pressure from party workers at the AICC plenary session in Hyderabad last January, Rahul had declared that he was not interested in any posts and would rather serve the party as a worker. His refusal has, however, failed to dent the hopes of a section of Congressmen who want him to play the role of a saviour in UP, where he has failed to click so far. |
| Their hopes have also been bolstered by Rahul's frontal attack on UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav during his election campaign in Rae Bareli, and his remarks that he is ready to take the responsibility of reviving the party in UP if the party leadership wished so. |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard