Sonia yet to win, but the party has already begun

Party activists and well wishers shouted 'long live Sonia' slogans as results poured in from Rae Bareli constituency.

Sonia Gandhi may not have been officially declared the winner, but her supporters are celebrating in full flow at her Delhi residence 10, Janpath.

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Party MPs also filed into the crowds, giving takes to TV crew.

Party activists and Gandhi's well wishers shouting 'long live Sonia' slogans as results poured in from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency, giving their leader a massive lead ahead of her rivals in the bye elections.

Mounted on an open-top Gypsy, Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, swamped by hundreds of supporters, led the crowd celebrating Gandhi's near-certain victory in the re-elections she had fought after stepping down as LS member over the office-of-profit controversy.

Carrying party flags in their hands, supporters marched from one end of Akbar Road to the other, cheering and clapping ecstatically. A group of women supporters suag and danced to celebrate their leaders' performance.

A look-alike of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stood beside Sajjan Kumar on the vehicle waving to the crowd in his baby blue turban.

Drum beats thudded through the street and music blared from microphones as more and more people poured in.