31 August : Lakhs of people are expected to attend the Congress rally at Lambi tomorrow. Despite lot of resistance faced by the organisers of the rally, they are hopeful that the participation of people would be the largest ever in the history of the state. The rally is quite important for the Congress since it would mark the beginning of the campaign for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the state.
Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, MLA Talwandi Saboo, who is supervising the arrangements of the rally, said he had learnt that the SAD-BJP government in the state had got the intelligence feedback where in it had been told that it is going to be a mammoth rally with several lakh people attending it. The intelligence feedback, he said, was based on the reports collected by the state government from the SHOs and other grass root level officials from across the state who have been asked to maintain a watch on the activities of the Congress cadres.
Sidhu alleged that the Congress workers were being served open threats of the registration of criminal cases against them in case they actively participated in the arrangements for the rally. He said, he had learnt that the DIGs, the SSPs as also the SHOs have been directed to ensure that not many Congress workers are able to move out. Either the Congress workers are being threatened and harassed or they are being discouraged to go to Lambi.
However, Sidhu asserted, nothing was going to deter the Congress workers to attend the rally. Rather the resistance put forth by the SAD-BJP government has further strengthened the resolve of the workers that come what may they are going to attend the rally.
All the routes, the Talwandi Saboo MLA said, to Lambi have been blocked. Barricades have been erected along all the routes leading to Lambi. But it is a mammoth flood of people that is going to submerge all the blockades and barricades put on by the government, he asserted.
Sidhu claimed, the entire SAD-BJP government seems to be obsessed with the fear of the success of the Lambi rally which would prove to be the beginning of the end for the government. Come what may, the Lambi rally tomorrow would be a huge success.
He revealed that the transporters had been threatened against hiring vehicles to the Congress workers. "But we have made all the arrangements foolproof", he asserted, while adding, "even their (SAD-BJP government’s) desperate methods would not mean anything as the rally has to be a success at any cost".(eom)