Dharamsala, March 3
The Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, was accorded a warm welcome today on her arrival in Kangra during the first leg of her two-day roadshow in Himachal Pradesh. The Congress President came by helicopter which landed at Gaggal airport at 10.25 am. She was accompanied by Mr Ashok Gehlot, AICC spokesman Anand Sharma, and former Union Minister Shelja.

She was welcomed at the tarmac by Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, HPCC president Vidya Stokes and a large number of ministers and MLAs . The police and the SPG had thrown a tight security cordon and only a handful of cameramen were allowed to go inside.

Replying to questions on the airport, Ms Sonia Gandhi welcomed the directives of the Election Commission regarding ban on personal attacks on  leaders belonging to opposition parties but wondered how the Election Commission was going to implement this decision. When asked about the “Bharat uday yatra” of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, she said Mr Advani had undertaken such yatra earlier also but this would not affect the victory yatra of the Congress. When Ms Sonia Gandhi was asked why she preferred Himachal as the next state for road show, she said it was part of  her election strategy. In reply to another question about people leaving the Congress, she said it would not make any difference to the fortunes of the party.

Ms Gandhi left Gaggal airport  at 11 am and was cheered enthusiastically by the supporters of the Tourism Minister, Major Vijay Singh Mankotia. She travelled by Tata Safari and stopped at many places which did not form the part of the scheduled stops. At Nalti about 9 kilometres from Palampur, Ms Sonia Gandhi walked into Purohit Nursery and had a chat with the woman owner of the nursery . She also accepted a petition from her. People had gathered all along the 60 km route from Gaggal to Baijnath and the administration had put up barricades at  about a dozen places where Ms Sonia Gandhi got down from her vehicle and met people.

Later, she halted at the PWD rest house at Palampur for lunch. As many as 30 persons, including ministers and MLAs joined her for lunch. She came out and spent about 45 minutes in the lush green lawn of the rest house and discussed poll strategy with party leaders.

PALAMPUR: While speaking here Ms Gandhi said the wrong policies of NDA government had virtually ruined the domestic industry of the country rendering lakh of people jobless. She said economic policies of the NDA had proved beneficial only for the rich and the condition of people living below the poverty line had gone from bad to worse, she added.

Mr G.S. Bali, HP Transport Minister, received her at Nagrota Bagwan. While speaking to group of people at different places she said. she had been overwhelmed by the response of the people of the state on her first election tour to the state. She said in the past one month she had visited over half a dozen states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Orissa and had received similar response there also.

Ms Gandhi also stopped at Baijnath, where she interacted with group of women, she listened their complains and conveyed these to Mr Virbhadra Singh, who was accompanying her. She got down from the car and briefly addressed the crowd. She said, “I am grateful for your love and affection. I need your vote and support in the coming elections”.

She also visited the centuries old Shiva Temple at Baijnath on her way to Mandi. She offered prayers at the temple. Later, she left for Mandi where she will spend the night.

KANGRA: earlier Mr Virbhadra Singh told mediapersons at Kangra airport that on March 5 the Central Election Committee would finalise the list of the four Congress candidates in New Delhi. He refuted the allegations that the Congress was a divided house and added that the BJP was divided in two camps headed by Mr Shanta Kumar and Prof Dhumal. He said, “The Congress was united, is united and will remain united which was evident from the result of Assembly poll where the party had won convincingly.”

The Chief Minister also said Mr L.K. Advani was in the habit of playing gimmicks and hoped that this time his yatra would not leave dead in the streets. He said this yatra should pass of peacefully but it won’t affect the Congress party’s poll prospects.

Ms Vidya Stokes, HP Congress Chief, told mediapersons that Sonia Gandhi’s “jan samparak abivan” was for the common people of the state as she was eager to meet the common rural people of the state. Mr Haresh Mahajan Animal Husbandry Minister said Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the state had boosted the moral of party workers in the state.

MANDI: Ms Sonia Gandhi, was given a rousing reception at half a dozen places by Congress workers in this district. After crossing Kangra district she stopped and met public at Chauntra, Jogindernagar, Padhar, Pali, Darang and Mandi. She covered Jogindernagar, Darang and Mandi Assembly constituencies during her road show in this district today. The largest gathering had converged outside the Senior Secondary School Padhar in the Darang segment represented by IPH Minister, Thakur Kaul Singh.

In her brief address she lambasted the Vajpayee government describing it as “inefficient, communal and corrupt” and added that during the tenure of the NDA government unemployment had multiplied and added that no steps had been taken to mitigate the suffering of farmers, educated unemployed and the poor.