Sonia soliciting votes with signed letter

Rae Bareli, UP, May 4 (UNI) The trail-blazing electioneering notwithstanding, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is now soliciting votes with her signed letter addressed to the Rae Bareli electorate.

The printed epistle is being distributed to the people at all the election meetings of Ms Gandhi in the high profile constituency.

Seeking to connect emotionally with voters, the letter in Hindi mentions the long standing ''five generation'' bond of the Nehru-Gandhi family with Rae Bareli.

While one side of the letter contains the text, the flip side contains an image of the Congress chief surrounded by photographs of Feroze Gandhi, former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra.

The caption below the image reads, ''Rishta bara purana hai, bahu to bhari maton se jitana hai (the bond is very old, ensure that the daughter-in-law (Sonia) wins by huge margin of votes.'' It also refers to the resignation of Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat by the Congress president on March 23 and her subsequent visit to the segment.

Assuring to usher in development in the constituency ''against all odds,'' Ms Gandhi -- seeking a re-election to Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli -- observes that her win would in fact be the victory of the people.

Without naming any person or party, the Congress president has criticised those, who treat election as a weapon for vested interest.

In the run-up to the May 8 Lok Sabha bypoll, she arrived here yesterday to address one meeting each in the five assembly segments in Rae Bareli -- Saraini, Satawan, Sadar, Dalmau and Bachrawan.

On Friday, Ms Gandhi had appointed daughter Priyanka Vadra as her election agent. While Rahul would look after campaigning, Priyanka would handle the administrative part of the electioneering.

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