Azad addresses poll rally telephonically amid Pak shelling

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad Tuesday addressed an election rally telephonically in a border village in Rajouri district as Pakistan shelling along the Line of Control played the spoilsport.

Azad, who reached here on a three-day election campaign trail, was scheduled to address a rally at Laam area of Nowshera sector where the party had made all arrangements, a Congress spokesman said.

He said over 3,000 people had assembled to hear the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha despite heavy shelling by Pakistan but he could not attend the rally because the local administration did not allow the landing of his chopper.

The landing site was shifted to Qila Darhal, six kilometers from Laam, but the authorities did not allow the landing of the chopper there as well despite permission, the spokesman said.

Azad later briefly addressed the people telephonically and sought their support for the Congress candidate, he said.

Chief Spokesperson of Pradesh Congress Committee Ravinder Sharma said the people waited for hours altogether to hear the state's former chief minister despite persistent shelling by Pakistan.

He said the rally was addressed by local Congress leaders and National Conference who lashed out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for its "failure to ensure safety of the border village residents and the security personnel guarding the border".

Condemning Pakistan for targeting civilian population in forward areas, he alleged that the present government has failed to end cross-border shelling.

"The Pakistani shelling is intolerable and needs a befitting reply from the government of India," he said, urging the local administration to make contingency arrangements to deal with the situation arising out of the intense shelling.