Congress President Sonia Gandhi addresses an election rally in New Delhi on Sunday
The Congress was keen to avoid last Sunday's fiasco at Rahul Gandhi's rally in Delhi. So, when his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi arrived for her first election rally in the city, a packed ground and a rousing welcome greeted her.
Organizers ensured everything worked to a plan. The ground was filled up long before Mrs Gandhi was scheduled to speak. Leaders kept updating the crowd on when she would speak. This was in sharp contrast to her Mr Gandhi's rally last weekend where Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had to urge the crowd to not leave the ground before he spoke.
Today, the scenes were markedly different. Organizers were satisfied that crowds were in full attendance to hear Mrs Gandhi. The Congress chief didn't name BJP's prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi but hit out at his party, accusing them of narrow thinking.
"Some people, mainly the principal opposition party, are spreading poison with their narrow thinking. I want to ask what their ideology is," she said.
The stakes for the Congress, which is seeking a record fourth term in Delhi which votes on December 4, are high and no one knows it better than the chief minister herself. Highlighting the development work of her government, Mrs Dikshit said, "Delhi is no ordinary state. It's the capital of India and what Delhi does today, India does tomorrow."
The chief minister only reiterated what most view - the assembly polls as the semi-finals before the big final in 2014.