Rally witnesses fine act of factional balancing

NEW DELHI: Congress managers made sure that every state with a farmer base and faced with an agrarian crisis was invited to the dais at the rally, marking a clear indication that the party wants the campaign against the land bill to touch a chord across the country. It also presented a strategy at factional balancing in the state units.

Sachin Pilot told the gathering that the Modi government was trying to snatch farmland to benefit its cor8porate backers while BJP-ruled Rajasthan was in the grip of farmer suicides, with 41 having killed themselves in distress already.

Rajasthan made a strong contribution to the massive Sunday mobilization. The state unit is headed by Pilot. However, the managers remembered to call former CM Ashok Gehlot to the dais for an address. Legislature party leader Rameshwar Dudi was then invited to felicitate Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Rahul and AK Antony.

If Haryana unit chief Ashok Tanwar gave a speech, so did his detractor and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda while Deepender Hooda and legislature party member Kiran Chaudhary came to felicitate the leadership. Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay garlanded the brass after CM Harish Rawat had given a speech at the start.

The faction-ridden Punjab unit found all-round presence too. If the embattled head Partap Singh Bajwa spoke, so did CLP member Sunil Jakhar. Interestingly, former CM Amarinder Singh, who has sounded the bugle against Bajwa, was not called. Equally interesting was the fact that Delhi state chief Ajay Maken, lauded for the rally arrangements, concluded the programme with a vote of thanks while his detractors, former CM Sheila Dikshit and son Sandeep, were ignored.

Telangana chief Uttam Reddy addressed the gathering in chaste Hindi, reflecting the prevalence of the national language in the state as distinct from Andhra Pradesh.

The newly-appointed Congress head on the southern turf spoke about the agrarian crisis gripping the country as also against the land bill.

Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh, and Congress chiefs Ashok Chavan (Maharashtra) and Nirmal Khatri (UP) addressed the gathering while Arun Yadav (MP) and Sukhvinder Sukkhu (HP) greeted leaders on the dais.

Also called to the dais were Youth Congress chief Amarinder Brar, NSUI head Roji John, Mahila Congress head Sobha Oza and Seva Dal's Mahendra Joshi.

http://ift.tt/1j1QCmH Pilot,Rally witnesses,fine act of factional balancing,farmer base,CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.