New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency Rae Bareli is voting on Monday after a bitterly fought campaign.
A desperate Samajwadi Party complained to the Election Commission alleging that Sonia’s election agent Priyanka had hatched a conspiracy to capture booths. It demanded that Priyanka be made to leave the constituency.
In a letter to the Election Commission, SP state unit president Ram Saran Das demanded Priyanka be ordered to leave Rae Bareli immediately. However, the Returning Officer rejected the demand.
In another letter to the poll panel, SP candidate Rajkumar Chaudhary said Priyanka could not become the election agent as she enjoyed Special Protection Group (SPG) security.
The Election Commission had earlier ordered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to leave Rae Bareli, because he enjoyed heavy government security, owing to his status as Amethi MP.
Priyanka too enjoys SPG security but the Election Commission order was not applicable to election agents.
Meanwhile, UPCC Chief Spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh asserted that Priyanka has been authorised by the EC to stay in the constituency as Sonia Gandhi's polling agent and criticised the 'fuss' created by the SP over her stay in the constituency.
The bitter rivalry got too personal after Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh mimicked Sonia Gandhi's Hindi diction and ridiculed her for her foreign roots.
"Soniaji's Hindi is pathetic. With her spectacles on her nose, she manages to utter two words in Hindi with a lot of stammering. I feel sorry for her but what can one do, as she was brought up in Italy and not in Rae Bareli," Singh said.
The Congress also took the war of words to the Election Commission, charging Uttar Pradesh Minister Shivpal Yadav with attempting to bribe voters.
Yadav had offered electricity and water connection to all homes if they voted for Samajwadi Party.
(With inputs from PTI)
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