Infighting shadow over farmers' rally

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 25. The large turnout from Rajasthan, Haryana and even Punjab saved the Congress(I) leadership from a major embarrassment at the Kisan Rally at the Ramlila Ground here today. In fact, the infighting within the Delhi Congress(I) once again cast its shadow over the moblisation of crowds for the rally.

The poor show by the Delhi unit in gathering the promised one lakh people, including farmers, turned out to be a damp squib. Hardly many from the rural Delhi turned out for what was being termed as a ```historic rally''. Sources in the party said the new general secretary and Delhi in-chrage, Mr. Kamal Nath, had taken ``serious note'' of the failure of the party, whose Government is in power in Delhi, to moblise adequate people for the rally.

Sources said many leaders, including the Chief Minister are likely to face the party high command's wrath for failure to mobilise people. It is believed that an explanation would be sought from these leaders as to what went wrong and why the party did not live up to the expectations.

It is learnt that the Delhi Congress(I) and its Government had undertaken to fill up around 1,500 buses for the rally. But not more than 500 buses reached the venue, forcing some leaders to remark that something had gone wrong. It is believed that due to the factionalism, there was lack of coordination between the party and the Government in the preparations.

Despite the tall claims that lakhs had turned up, the rear portion of the Ramlila Ground had an empty look, which even prompted the Congress(I) president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, to take note of the failure of the mobilisation effort. In fact, the crowd was unresponsive to a majority of the speakers and it was only when the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Mr.Ashok Ghelot, the Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Madavrao Scindia, and the former Union Minister, Mr.Balram Jhakhar, spoke that they cheered, although not quite enthusiastically. When Ms. Gandhi spoke the crowds responded but motivation was lacking all through.

The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee(I) president, Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, was able to touch a chord and drew instant response when he pointed to the ``indiscriminate closure'' of industries in the Capital due to which people of Poorvanchal were badly affected. He urged the Delhi Government to stop the sealing of industries and prevent dislocation of people.

The most colourful turnout was from Rajasthan and Haryana. While the men adorned colourful turbans and dhotis, the women were dressed in variety of colourful saris with Congress(I) badges and flags pinned on them. The rallyists shouted pro-Sonia and anti- BJP slogans amid the playing of drums and dhol. The rally had its share of chaos too. There was total lack of coordination among the volunteers leading to a virtual stampede near the media enclosure over food packets and water bottles.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : More compensation for farmers
Next     : Quake hits tourism in Jaisalmer