Sonia roots for NCP candidate

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi raised many an eyebrow today by addressing a poll meeting for NCP‘s Bhandara nominee Praful Patel at Gondia in Maharashtra. NCP president Sharad Pawar kept away despite being in the neighbourhood. He, instead, addressed a press conference at Nagpur.

Sonia’s presence at a rally for an NCP nominee was surprising because she is not scheduled to address one for any of the seven Congress candidates in Vidarbha. With state NCP chief R.R. Patil — who was camping here since Wednesday —also choosing not to attend, the event had the appearance of a Congress affair rather than one to showcase the alliance in the state.

Incidentally, Bhandara, until the last day for withdrawal of nominations, was dogged by rebellion due to Congress’ Narayandas Saraf, who had entered the fray despite the seat being allotted to Patel. Saraf eventually withdrew his papers, but the divide between the local units of the parties remained. Observers say this could be a reason for getting Sonia to campaign here.

Regarding the last-minute organisation of Sonia’s rally, a senior NCP leader said it was discreetly done so that Congress nominees wouldn’t raise a ‘‘for-me-too’’ clamour.