Rahul has long innings: Priyanka

As Congress president Sonia Gandhi marches towards a win in the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha bypoll, her daughter Priyanka Vadra feels that Amethi member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi, the frontline campaigner, has a long innings in politics.

"He (Rahul) will be in politics for many years. He will face many tests," Priyanka said when asked whether the Rae Bareli campaign was a litmus test for her brother.

"He has done lot of hard work in Rae Bareli," she said.

Asked about the margin she expected for the mother, Priyanka said: "Margin is like a ego trip for me. It does not have any value. When we do well, we do well. For others a margin of 50,000 is a great thing."

In reply to a query, she said, "This election was different because a lot of voters have not been given a chance to vote in 50-150 polling booths."

She said she has complained to the Election Commission about this.

As per trends available at 10 am, the Congress president had polled over 94,980 votes, while her nearest rival Raj Kumar Chaudhary of the Samajwadi Party had gathered 13,285 votes, Bharatiya Janata Party's Vinay Katiyar was a distant third with 3,325, while Apna Dal candidate Prabha Singh Lodhi had got 1,260 votes.

Priyanka said her mother's victory was a foregone conclusion. The parliamentary bypolls in Rae Bareli, necessitated due to Sonia's resignation in the wake of the office of profit issue, saw a low 43 per cent turnout.