Congress shows strength at Ramlila Maidan

Rally a bid to send message across that the party is not on the defensive

It was the smiling faces of the triumvirate — Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — which were splashed across posters and hoardings on route to Ramlila Maidan here, the site of the party’s first big rally here after a while. Drawing people from neighbouring Haryana, Rajasthan and even Madhya Pradesh, the rally was also aimed at being a massive show of strength for the under-attack party.

Therefore, Congress chief ministers spared no effort in bringing in the crowds. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda lead the pack, with ‘Gulabi sena’ — pink turbaned supporters in overwhelming numbers. “Next time, Delhi will have to provide a larger venue than this ground,” he declared. While an estimated 100,000 managed to make their way inside the heavily barricaded venue, thousands milled outside, unable to get in. While there were traffic snarls all the way to the borders, many could be seen making their way to the venue even after the rally got over by 1 pm.

Both Hooda and his Rajasthan counterpart, Ashok Gehlot, who addressed the crowds before the arrival of the senior leadership, urged that Rahul Gandhi be given a bigger role at the national level, so that a “larger message” went out to youth and the country.

Among others who spoke were the state party heads in the Opposition-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, Kantilal Bhuria and D Parameshwar, respectively. Both lambasted their respective Bharatiya Janata Party state governments for being allegedly steeped in corruption.

The rally was a bid by the Congress to get its message across to the Opposition camps and its detractors that it was not on the defensive but in for a fight, borne out by the unusual combativeness of both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. A celebratory mood of party workers at the venue was on display, with Congress flags, festoons, posters and so forth everywhere.

The rally, said some, was also a test for Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who would be hoping for a kickstarting a momentum to the countdown for the Delhi Assembly elections next year. That she had succeeded in organiaing a massive show was evident as scion Rahul Gandhi lauded her for “changing the face of the city of Delhi”.

Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, in characteristic style, tweeted from the venue, “Congress President Sonia Gandhi concludes robust speech with three cheers of ‘Jai Hind’!” and posted a picture of the massive gathering.