Predicting an easy win for Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her election agent Priyanka Gandhi on Monday said the absence of a strong rival had made party workers complacent but it will not affect the electoral fortunes of her mother.
"We have always won by a record margin in Rae Bareli. This time also Sonia Gandhi will win by a record margin. There has been a tremendous response since the morning," she said.
Asked how this election was different from the one in 2004, she said that the then rival candidate (Samajwadi Party) had been quite strong but this time there was no formidable opponent.
She told reporters that the absence of a strong rival had made Congress workers complacent.
Priyanka complained to the district returning officer about the mal-functioning of some Electronic Voting Machines in certain polling stations. Returning Officer Jitendra Prasad later told reporters that the machines were replaced and polling was going on smoothly.
She said her brother Rahul had done so much "hard work" that there was hardly anything left for her to do.
She visited various areas of the constituency in Bachrawan, 30 km from the district headquarters, on the Lucknow-Rae Bareli road. Priyanka also spoke to some voters to know if they were facing any problem in exercising their franchise.