VIVEK WAGHMODE KOLHAPUR, APRIL 20 CONGRESS star campaigner Rahul Gandhi has assured people of Sangli that water would be provided to drought-prone talukas in the district if the UPA returns to power. He was addressing an election rally on Sunday for candidate Prateek Patil. Over 5,000 people braved the sun to hear Rahul speak for five minutes. He said, "If the UPA wins, the water scarcity faced by parts of district will be solved forever." People of 17 villages in the district affected by water scarcity have decided not to boycott the polls. Rahul took a dig at BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, saying how Advani could hope to win people's confidence when he could not win even the trust of even his own Prime Minister (A B Vajpayee) when Advani was the Home Minister. Stating that Manmohan Singh had proved to be a strong PM, Rahul said it was due to his strong diplomatic action after the Mumbai attacks that India could put pressure on Pakistan to take measures to curb terrorism against India. Recalling the work done by the late Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil, Rahul said, "Vasantdada's vision helped Maharashtra in all-round growth. But some are trying to de-stabilise institutions set up by him. We won't allow that and we will support Prateek Patil to reconstruct these (institutions)." Sangli has been Congress bastion since Independence and is considered a stronghold of the family of Vasantdada Patil since 1980. Prateek Patil is the grandson of the late CM. Congress MLA Ajitrao Ghorpade, who has rebelled to enter the fray as an independent candidate, is posing problems for the Congress. With Ghorpade getting support from all opposition parties and the BJP withdrawing its candidate in a bid to defeat the Congress candidate, Patil is facing a tough battle. Some NCP leaders are believed to be supporting Congress rebel Ghorpade.