Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi holds a road show at Delhi's Sultanpur Majra.
New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, in an open pick-up truck, led a huge roadshow for his party, the Congress, in a constituency it has held in north-west Delhi for over 20 years. Mr Gandhi, 44, was received by a large crowd waving Congress flags in the resettlement colony which has elected the party's Jaikishan to the Delhi legislature for three consecutive terms. At one point, Mr Gandhi obliged a request for an autograph.
Campaigning in Delhi ends today; the city votes for its next government on Saturday and results will be declared three days later.
Yesterday, Mr Gandhi's rally in Old Delhi took four hours to cover five kilometres. He was showered with petals. His party has promised better public transport including a monorail, and the "Right to Shelter" and "housing and property rights" for Delhi's poorest.
The exuberant reception for its Vice-President in these Congress strongholds is unlikely to quell the party's anxiety about the predictions offered by a string of opinion polls - third place for the party with less than six of the city's 70 assembly seats.
The last election in December 2013 saw the Congress, which had governed Delhi for 15 years, demolished by Arvind Kejriwal whose Aam Admi Party or AAP has won huge support among the voters who traditionally sided with the Congress.
A similar trend is forecast by opinion polls this time around, most of which also put Mr Kejriwal in first place.
Mr Gandhi led the Congress campaign for the national election last year, with disastrous results. The party accumulated its worst performance ever; the BJP, led by Narendra Modi, showed the strongest election result for a party in India in nearly 30 years.
The election in Delhi is being seen as a closely-contested fight between the AAP and the BJP. Ajay Maken has led the Congress campaign but in its final phase, Mr Gandhi has addressed rallies.