Siddharthnagar, Feb 11: The non-descriptive village of Masna Karaunda in this district today played host to Congress Pesident Sonia Gandhi when she made an imprompt stopover at the Hamlet. Wrapping up her three-day roadshow of Gorakhpur and Basti divisions in Uttar Pradesh, Ms Gandhi decided to interact and lend an ear to the problems of the people of the village which she was passing through. No sooner did she disembark from her vehicle with the SPG men in tow, she was surrounded by awe-struck villagers who had lined both sides of the road to catch a glimpse of Ms Gandhi. The Congress supremo stayed for about 30 minutes at the village, the longest halt of her entire tour. The washerwoman narrated her tale of woes saying in the coming days, she would lose her only mean of livelihood as she was being forced to shift elsewhere.


Ms Gandhi gave her a patient hearing and assured all help to her even as she solicited the villagers' support for the party in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

On the last day of her tour, she visited Bansi, Dumariaganj and Basti and addressed about a dozen public meetings. The Congress campaign ended at Basti this afternoon.
Bureau Report