The India Post, Chandigarh 5th Feburary :The Congress workers meet organised by Manish Tewari, the spokesperson All India Congress Committee at Mullapur Dakha near here today turned out into a huge rally with the attendance of at least fifty thousand people. The local grain market, venue of the rally, proved too small for the multitude of the crowds who had converged there cramming the venue and people literally fighting for the space.
The added attraction to the grand show was the presence of the entire state leadership of the party including the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mohinder Singh Kaypee, chairman of the Campaign Committee Capt Amarinder Singh, leader of the opposition in Punjab assembly, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, convenor of the Campaign Committee, Ashwani Sekhri and former minister and the party in charge for Ludhiana, Lal Singh.
The tone and tenor of the rally was thoroughly anti government and anti Badals. Right from Amarinder Singh to Manish Tewari, the speakers lashed out at the government for victimizing the Congress workers and indulging in nepotism and corruption.
Amarinder pointed out, the Badals had made it a family estate with the father being the Chief Minister, the son the Deputy Chief Minister, the nephew Finance Minister, the son in law the Food and Civil Supplies minister and so on. He said, senior Akali leaders within the party were feeling suffocated as the family members of the Badals were grabbing everything.
The Campaign Committee chairman remarked, there seemed to be no end to the lust for money for the Badals as they had grabbed everything, be it the sand contracts, the liquor contracts, the transport permits or the cable operations.
He warned the Badals against victimizing the Congress workers. He said, the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Badal would make good his escape before the next assembly elections as he knows that people will not spare him his misdeeds.
Speaking in the same vein, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal lashed out at Akalis for their failure in providing good governance to the people of Punjab. Congratulating Manish Tewari for organizing a spectacular show today, she said, it would be a matter of great privilege for the people to have him as their representative. She also thanked the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi for providing such a brilliant and articulate candidate to the people of Ludhiana.
Speaking on the occasion, the PCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee appealed to the people to ensure that the Congress won the elections. He said, the people of the state were quite upset and disappointed with the Akali-BJP government and they wanted to get rid off it at the earliest.
Expressing his gratitude to the people, the workers and the leaders, the party spokesperson, Manish Tewari pointed out, it was the Congress which had provided such a good governance in the state. He said, the Congress government at the centre had raised the minimum support price of wheat by Rs 300 while the BJP led NDA government had enhanced it by Rs 30 during their six year tenure. Moreover, he pointed out, it was Sonia Gandhi who had appointed the son of the soil, Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of the country.
Legislators including Tej Parkash Singh, Jassi Khangura, Gurdeep Singh Bhaini, Harmohinder Singh, Isher Singh, Darshan Singh Brar, former ministers Harnam Dass Johar, Rakesh Pandey, Milkiat Singh Dakha, Milkiat Singh Birmi, Surinder Dawer, Punjab Youth Congress president, Ravneet Singh Bittu and others.