UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination papers from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. “Don’t forget 2004” said Sonia after filing her nomination as she sought to remind that nobody is invincible, in an indirect reference to the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Responding to newspersons’ queries on whether she thought  Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible, the UPA chairperson replied, “Not at all, not at all. Don’t forget 2004. In 2004  Vajpayeeji was also considered invincible but we (Congress ) won”, Sonia said after filing her nomination. Vajpayee, who headed the BJP-led NDA government in 1998 and 1999m suffered a shock defeat in 2004 Lok Sabha polls even as pollsters predicted that he would win another term. A UPA government, headed by Manmohan Singh, was formed thereafter.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who accompanied his mother to the Rae Bareli district collectorate, took a jibe at the Prime Minister and said that his invincibility will be in full view in this election. He said there have been many people who have had the arrogance to believe that they are invincible and that they are bigger than the people of  India. But they don’t realize that nobody is bigger than the people. The Congress president reiterated that he is ready for an open debate with the Prime Minister on the Rafale issue.

The UPA chairperson was accompanied to the district collectorate by her son Rahul, daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, son-in-law Robert Vadra and grandson RaihanVadra. However, only Rahul and Priyanka were with Sonia when she filed her papers in the nomination room.

Earlier, before filing her nomination, Sonia participated in a “puja” at the Congress party’s central office in Rae Bareli.  Rahul, Priyanka, Robert and Raihan also participated in the “puja” and “havan”. Sonia has been following this tradition since 2004 when she contested for the first time from Rae Bareli.

The tradition of participating in puja and havan before filing the nomination papers was started by Sonia Gandhi’s mother-in-law Indira Gandhi when she contested from Rae Bareli for the first time in 1967. This tradition was followed by the former Prime Minister in 1971, 1977 and 1980 Lok Sabha polls.

After the completion of the puja and havan ceremony, the Gandhi family embarked on a roadshow on their way to the district collectorate. Huge crowds of enthusiastic Congress workers thronged the roadshow on the entire stretch of about a kilometre from the Congress office to the district collectorate.

The UPA chairperson will be contesting for a record fifth time from Rae Bareli. She won from here in 2004,  2006 (by-election), 2009 and 2014.  She is pitted against former Congress MLA Dinesh Pratap Singh, who has been fielded by Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh quit the Congress last month.

Polling in Rae Bareli will be held in the fifth phase of the seven-tiered elections on May 6.