JIND, Haryana, 15 May 2005 — With every inch of available space at the Congress thanksgiving rally’s dais being occupied by party supporters, many of them had to go vertical to catch a glimpse of their leaders, especially party President Sonia Gandhi.
Several young men could be seen perched on poles that had been erected to hold the roof of the dais at the rally venue. “I got a good view from the top though it was difficult hanging there due to the heat,” Ishwar Singh from Kaithal said.
Rally managers put the attendance at over 200,000, claiming that this was the highest at a political rally in recent years.
Despite intense heat wave conditions in the region, Congress supporters waiting for their leaders for hours. All Congress ministers and legislators had ferried supporters from all over Haryana following instructions from Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Huda.
Many people could be seen entering the rally venue even after the event had ended. It was a first massive show of strength for Huda, who faces an assembly by-election June 2.
Folk singers and dancers kept the audience enthralled before senior leaders arrived with Sonia. The rally provided an opportunity to Sonia to label the Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition as “irresponsible” — and also to rap the state for its poor gender ratio.
Braving scorching heat, tens of thousands of people were brought here by overzealous Congress leaders from all over Haryana to ensure a huge turnout at the party’s first massive show of strength after returning to power in March after nine years.
Gandhi, in her address lasting over 15 minutes, took the opposition parties head on for their behavior inside and outside Parliament.
“They have been acting most irresponsibly inside and outside Parliament,” Sonia told the gathering at the Police Lines grounds.
She said that the recent boycott of Parliament by the BJP-led opposition was unnecessary, as the opposition had no major issue to raise.
“I am completely satisfied with the performance of the Manmohan Singh government at the center. It is doing a good job for the country,” she said.
She pointed out that it was the negative role of the opposition that led to the Employment Guarantee Bill not being introduced in the Parliament session that ended Friday.
She said that hundreds of youth would have got jobs once the bill was passed but the absence of the opposition from Parliament led to the bill not being tabled.
Sonia took time to tell the largely rural gathering that the Right to Information bill passed by both houses of Parliament was a historic step and would make government officials more responsible towards the public.
The Congress president also expressed her serious concern over the declining gender ratio in Haryana, which is among the country’s lowest. “You have to do something to check it. It cannot be allowed to dip further. Our mindset toward the girl child has to change,” Sonia said.
She said that men and women were the wheels of society and if one sex was reduced in numbers, progress would be affected.
Sonia thanked the people of Haryana for their overwhelming support in the assembly elections that saw it win a three-fourths majority in the 90-member house.
“We know that expectations are high from our government. Things cannot change overnight but we will ensure that all promises are fulfilled,” she added.
Chief Minister Huda, Finance Minister Birender Singh (whose constituency is Jind), central minister Selja and other leaders also addressed the rally. Sonia arrived by a helicopter and was received by Huda and other leaders. The rally was scheduled last month but was postponed following the death of two ministers in a helicopter crash.
