The Liberal Party source, who asked not to be named, said people associated with campaigns for Melbourne electorates — including those at Liberal Party headquarters and even some candidates — are “disappointed” and “fed up” that valuable resources have had to be put into Indi.

Mrs Mirabella, who spent yesterday meeting voters at the Wodonga saleyards and later handing out how-to-vote cards, denied the claims.

It comes as word continued to circulate that internal Liberal Party polling showed the incumbent was in real danger of losing the seat.

Indi would generally be considered a safe seat; Mrs Mirabella has a 9 per cent margin after achieving 52 per cent of the vote in 2010.

But she has faced a tough challenge from independent Cathy McGowan, who has picked up preferences from Labor and the Greens.

A ReachTEL poll a fortnight ago indicated Mrs Mirabella had 47 per cent and Ms McGowan 25 per cent.

Mrs Mirabella’s campaign material has ramped up in recent weeks, with a distinct change of tactic — posters and flyers that featured the MP’s smiling visage have been increasingly replaced with ones attacking independents as ineffective and “a failure”.

Meanwhile, a parade of high-profile Liberal identities have visited the region.

Last weekend a group of young Liberals — believed to be from the Liberal Club at Melbourne University, Mrs Mirabella’s alma mater — came to the North East to bolster the campaign ranks.

But the source said resources, like those young campaigners or newly printed material, should be retained for key marginal seats like Corangamite, Deakin and La Trobe, where the swing needed was minuscule.

“Quite a few people I have spoken to, including a current MP, have told me they are putting additional resources into Indi ... and they’re not happy about it,” the source said.

“When resources are so thin on the ground, they (campaigners) shouldn’t be making the journey to Indi in the last weekend of the campaign.”

The source said Mrs Mirabella was “not seeing the bigger picture”.

Asked if there were internal concerns about Mrs Mirabella’s seat, the source said: “The actions speak for themselves.”

The source said in most cases resources were allocated through Liberal party headquarters in Melbourne or at the candidate’s instigation.

A picture posted on Facebook on Saturday showed a group of campaigners outside Mrs Mirabella’s office in Wangaratta with the caption, “Campaigning in Indi with Sophie”.

Among those named in the photo was John Speer, Mrs Mirabella’s electorate officer and campaigns officer at the Melbourne University Liberals Club.

A spokesman for Mrs Mirabella’s office said the visit had been planned by the Young Liberals some time ago.

Mrs Mirabella said: “Young Liberals are campaigning in regional Victoria and right across the state. They know that only a vote for the Coalition will deliver the change of government Australia needs and are supporting my campaign, as they have at every election since 2001.”

Asked if the claims of resources being diverted to Indi were true, Mrs Mirabella said: “We’ve always run campaigns, we never take things for granted.”

Liberal party headquarters did not return The Border Mail’s calls.