The mother and daughter were in Bellary district on Friday on a whirlwind tour covering four assembly segments in the district. This is Sonia's first visit to Bellary after she filed her papers on August 18.

At Siruguppa, Priyanka addressed the crowd in Kannada, ``Bellariya nanna preethiya akka thangiyare..thayandire, ivattu nanna thayiyannu nimmallige kare thandiruve. ivaru nimmavaru. Ivarannu neevu yella reethiyalli rakshisi gellisi kodabeku.'' (Dear sisters, I have brought my mother to Bellary today. You must protect her and send her victorious.)

At the end of the speech, when Priyanka asked the people to raise their hands in support of Sonia, many hands went up.

Addressing a10,000-plus crowd, with daughter Priyanka by her side, Sonia Gandhi kicked off her personal campaign, in Sandur, declaring, ``My kismat is with this dharti..akhri dum tak idhar hee rahega.'' (My destiny is tied to that of India and it will stay that way till my last breath.)

The crowd stood in silence despite the fact that Sonia and her daughter Priyanka, were behind schedule by two hours. She was expected to arrive by 10 am.

Though it is not known how much of the Hindi speech the crowd was able to absorb, a whole section of it seemed to have come to watch the spectacle of a helicopter from such close quarters.

Sonia's unemotional and monotonous speeches did little to cheer the crowds. She said she was married to Rajiv 30 years ago and had imbibed Indian culture then on. ``I was witness to the support you gave my mother-in-law Indramma and later my husband Rajiv who continued the same seva,'' she said.

The Congress leader brushed aside the accusations against her, saying, she was``accustomed to these things''.

Sonia said nothing new. She criticised the coalition Government stating that each of the 18 members was interested in his own welfare and not that of the country. Development took a back seat. Atrocities on women continued. Minorities fell victims to brutality and rape, she charged.

On Kargil, Sonia said the BJP Government did not take any action though the Pakistani intruders had entered in September last year itself. It is the soldiers who won the battle, he said.

Assuring the people that she would launch schemes that will aim at the uplift of women, she said she understood the ``burden our sisters have to shoulder''.

Sonia chose the stability plank to begin her first election rally in her constituency in Siruguppa. ``The entire world is looking at you in Bellary and I have faith in you,'' she told the gathering.

S M Krishna, KPCC president, appealed to the people to elect Sonia with a two lakh-plus margin. He said Sonia is Rajiv's representative and is the only onecapable of providing a stable government at the Centre.

M Y Ghorpade, candidate for Sandur, said it was Rajiv who brought the Panchayat Raj Act into force. Sonia will make the dream of Rajiv's Gram Swaraj into reality.

Ghulam Nabi Azad and Janardhana Poojari, both AICC general secretaries, were present. The Congress president also addressed a rally in Kotturu.