A file picture of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul at a rally in Lucknow

Lucknow, Dec. 4: Last month, when Sonia Gandhi was asked about the responsibilities Rahul Gandhi might shoulder for the Uttar Pradesh Congress, she had replied: “He is sitting out there and you can ask him.”

At Amethi today, Rahul sent the ball back to her mother’s court. “My boss is standing by my side, why don’t you ask her?”

Sonia smiled but made no comment.

Party leaders in Uttar Pradesh are eagerly waiting but Rahul’s role is yet to be spelt out though elections to the Assembly are just a couple of months away.

“I am here already. You see me here in my constituency,” Rahul told journalists on the last day of his three-day trip to Amethi. Sonia was there to inaugurate the Indira Gandhi Netra Chikitsalaya.

Campaigning for his mother’s byelection in May, Rahul had said he was ready to lead the party in Uttar Pradesh. But his bid today to leave the decision to his mother has disappointed leaders in Amethi.

During his trip, Rahul reviewed development work in his constituency. He got a pat from Sonia, who said: “I am satisfied with the work done by Rahul. I wish development had taken place at the same pace elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh.”

Although Sonia praised Rahul, party leaders in Amethi are yet to recover from the humiliation they faced after the drubbing Congress candidates received in the local body elections last month.

In Amethi, an Independent candidate, Chandrima Devi won the Nagar panchayat deputy chairman’s post while the Congress nominee was relegated to the third place. The chairman’s seat also went to an Independent. The Congress had won both the seats in the last polls in 2000.

Congress leaders said the campaigning was under Rahul’s control. Sonia had also told the media as much. Late last month, party affairs in-charge Ashok Gehlot had issued a statement saying Rahul should be given more responsibility for Uttar Pradesh.