Priyanka Gandhi’s roadshow in Solan adds vigour to Congress’ campaign in city

Ambika Sharma

Solan, May 30

A 40-minute roadshow of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi marked the closure of the Congress’ election campaign here on Thursday.

Flanked by Congress Shimla Lok Sabha candidate Vinod Sultanpuri and Minister for Health and Family Welfare DR Shandil besides party MLAs from Solan and Shimla, the show progressed through Mall Road while greeting the residents.

The show took off from Old Circuit House and culminated near the old DC office with party functionaries holding flags and marching along with the bedecked open vehicle.

Gandhi waved at people and greeted them with folded hands while making a conscious effort to establish a contact with the residents who had gathered along the road to catch a glimpse of the young leader.

MLAs Anirudh Singh, Sanjay Awasthi and Ramkumar Chawdhary were also seen waving at the crowd as they took turns to stand with Priyanka Gandhi. It was amusing to see how in the scorching heat the open vehicle was covered with the party flag to offer shade to the leaders.

The distance of about a kilometre was covered within nearly 40 minutes.

Shandil was no match for the young charismatic Gandhi whose presence was enough to attract the masses towards the show. Though he did make an effort to wave at the crowd but the elderly leader failed to make his presence felt in the crowd despite being a three-term local MLA.

Vinod Sultanpuri, however, made the most of the occasion as he shook hands with those in his vicinity while also passing on a few rose sticks to Gandhi from the crowd.

The show managed to add the missing vitality to the rather lacklustre elections this year as the Solan city had not witnessed any public rally of a national leader of either the Congress or BJP until now.

Adding a dash of music, dhol beats accompanied the show as party functionaries shouted slogans. Elated party workers also tapped their feet with the dhol beats as Gandhi’s presence boosted the hitherto drab election campaign of the Congress in the city.

In a bid to greet their national leader, the Congress workers here had put up party flags all over Mall Road while not sparing even electricity poles and walls of government schools. The act drew flak from BJP who was quick enough to register its protest with the Deputy Commissioner.