Sindhanur:
It was a blazing hot day in Raichur district in northern Karnataka. Rahul Gandhi, the Congress No 2 and one of the Congress' A-list campaigners was scheduled to launch his election campaign in the state at 10.30 in the morning in Sindhanur town in the district. He finally arrived over three hours late -- but the mood among those gathered to hear him speak was still upbeat.
Hema, a youth Congress worker at the rally, told NDTV that she was excited that Rahul Gandhi had come to the district to campaign. The local Congress candidate, Badarli Hampana Gowda, said Rahul's presence would make a difference to voters.
In his brief speech, after apologising for the delay, the Congress vice-president said the five years of BJP rule had dented the image of the state and he criticised the BJP for what he described as looting the public exchequer.
The Congress hopes that its good performance in the recently held urban body elections is an indication of which way the political winds are blowing in the state. It helps that the BJP has been hit by scam allegations and dissidence -- and the departure of the man who helped build the party in the state, BS Yeddyurappa.
Rahul's mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi contested from the neighbouring district of Bellary against the BJP's Sushma Swaraj in 1999. Mrs Gandhi won that bitterly-fought round.
But, Ms Swaraj's candidature then paved the way for the growth of the BJP here and the dominance of the mining barons, the Reddy brothers. The brothers brought their considerable financial might to bolster the party -- according to critics, they bought over independents and MLAs from other parties. But the Reddy empire is now in disarray with Janardhan Reddy in jail on corruption charges. But despite Bellary possibly heading the Congress way once again, Rahul chose not to launch his campaign in Bellary as originally planned.
Mrs Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will campaign in the state later this month. And the BJP has lined up Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to make its pitch to voters in the only state it has ever won in south India.
The state BJP spokesperson, S Prakash, was quick to point out that Rahul has not had much success in other states where he has campaigned. But the Congress vice president and the party hope Karnataka will change that record.