New Delhi: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will hit the campaign trail in Karnataka and address a public rally in Bijapur on Tuesday, PTI reported.
It is not clear whether she will address more rallies in Karnataka, which goes to polls on May 12. The news agency quoted party sources as saying that Sonia would address only Tuesday's rally.
She has not campaigned for almost two years and was inactive during Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland.
The Congress leader had last campaigned in Varanasi on August 2, 2016, ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, where she had taken ill during a roadshow.
Meanwhile, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "PPP Congress" jibe, likening him to a mobile phone on "speaker and aeroplane" mode and not the "work" mode.
"There are three modes in a cell phone... The first is the work mode... The other two are speaker mode and aeroplane mode. PM Modi only uses speaker and aeroplane mode and not the work mode," he told reporters in Karnataka. Rahul was responding to a question about PM Modi's remarks at an election rally in Gadag on May 5, 2018, where he said the Congress will become "Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar" Congress after its defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
"You might have seen and heard, in my speeches I speak about PM Modi, I question him on issues... But I speak about him with respect. PM Modi is an elderly man, he is aged, going to be 70. I respect those who are elder to me," Rahul said at election rallies in Hosakote and Maluru, as per PTI.
"He cannot speak about corruption as he has Yeddyurappa standing next to him. He cannot speak about farmers as he has not given them MSP, bonus, and not waived farm loan. He cannot speak about Dalits as Rohit Vemula (a Dalit student of Hyderabad who committed suicide) was killed by his people, Dalit in Unnao was killed by his people. What is left? Speak ill about Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah, and (Mallikarjun) Kharge. He does it," he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Rahul rode a bicycle as he led a march against high fuel prices at Maluru in Kolar district.
(With PTI inputs)
