Rahul's roadshow in Varanasi on May 10 to counter NaMo campaign

Decision of Gandhi's roadshow in Varanasi was taken after Modi had held a rally Amethi

Returning the compliment, Rahul Gandhi will be holding a roadshow in Varanasi on May 10, the last day of campaigning for the parliamentary seat from where BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate is contesting, to counter Narendra Modi's aggressive campaign in Amethi.

Sources said Rahul, Congress Vice President, will be in Varanasi on Saturday for the roadshow.

The decision of Gandhi's roadshow in Varanasi was taken after Modi, BJP's prime ministerial candidate, had held a rally in the Congress Vice President's Lok Sabha constituency Amethi on May 5 and targetted the Gandhi family.

Polling was held today in Amethi where Gandhi is locked in a triangular contest with BJP's television-star-turned politician Smriti Irani and Aam Aadmi Party's Kumar Vishwas.

Modi's rally in Amethi also came on the last day of campaigning for the eighth phase of polling and was an attempt to give a push to the BJP candidate's poll prospects in the pocketborugh of Gandhi family at a time when Congress is facing difficult election nationwide, particularly in central and eastern UP.

Gandhi's road show in Varanasi is being seen as a way of getting back at Modi who had broken the unwritten code that no top political leader campaigns in the political backyard of a top rival.

At the AICC briefing, party spokesman Shashi Tharoor said "we do not have any official word on it" but added it is natural that Gandhi would like to be active in the final phase.