Facing no serious threat from her opponents and even Samajwadi Party not fielded any candidate against her, Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, filed her nomination papers to seek her entry in the lok Sabha from Rae Bareli parliamentary seat. The entire route through which local MP took out a road show to reach for filing nomination, witnessed a `petal shower’ and the vehicle on which Sonia was traveling, and her son Rahul was driving, was covered with rose Petal.
All India Congress Party chief, accompanied by her son and AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi, along with her family friend, Capt Satish Sharma, and incharge of her Parliamentary constituency, Kl Sharma, filed two sets of nominations papers at Collectrate compound in Rae Bareli on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier Sonia Gandhi reached at Fursatganj airport in Rae Bareli and reached the collectorate premises amid much fan fare. The locals gathered in the way from airport to the collectorate in large numbers on both sides of the roads. Having elected from here in lok Sabha elections of 2004, by-poll in 2006 and 2009, the Congress president is contesting for the third time from Rae Bareli going to polls in the fourth phase in Uttar Pradesh on April 30 next.
As per Gandhi family’s tradition, Sonia attended a puja and havan ceremony at the residence of late Congress leader Gaya Prasad Shukla before filing the nominations. Speaking to the gathering outside the collectorate compound, the Congress president thanked the local people for their love and affection showered on her. She hoped to maintain same level of cordial relationship with people of Rae Bareli in future.
like the past occasion, Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra did not accompany her this time. Ms Vadra is the representative of Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli. From collectorate, she proceeded to Takia, where she paid obeisance at the mazar of Ali Mian, the tradition she alwaysfollowed after filing the nomination papers. Sonia Gandhi is a three-time MP from Rae Bareli, including once when she was elected in a by-election in 2006 after she resigned over profit of post issue. In 2004 polls, she shifted to Rae Bareli from Amethi, leaving it to her son Rahul Gandhi.
Meanwhile, the assets of Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi has grown eight times to over nine crore in the last five years as per her affidavit filed here along with her nomination papers from Rae Bareli lok Sabha seat on Wednesday. Rae Bareli Parliamentary seat elections will be held onApril 30. In her affidavit filed before the Returning Officer, she has declared her assets worth over 9.28 crore. Notably, Congress president had declared total assets worth Rs 1.16 crore in 2009 polls. In the latest list of assets, she has shown Rs 2,81,50,387 as movable while the remaining falls under the head of the immovable property. She said she has lent Rs 9 lakh to his son and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and has Rs 85,000 cash in hand.
The Congress president has Rs 66.08 lakh in bank and has bonds totalling to Rs ten lakh besides having investment of Rs 1.90 lakh in shares and over Rs 82 lakh in HDFC mutual fund. She has National Service Scheme (NSS) to the tunes of Rs 2.86 lakhs and Public Provident Fund (PPF) deposit worth Rs 42.49 lakh. Sonia Gandhi has Rs 23.10 lakh worth 1267 gm of gold ornaments and 88 kg silver amounting to Rs 39 lakh. She has also declared agricultural land of three bighas at Dera Mandi village worth Rs 4.86 crores while 12 bighas land worth over Rs 40 lakh at village Sultanpur. The value of her total 15 bighas land, which was estimated to be Rs 2.19 lakh in 2009, is now multiplied many times and reached around Rs 6.27 crores.