Bajwa's Modi ambush proves to be a damp squib

Sunday, 29/09/2013

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/punjab/bajwas-modi-ambush-proves-to-be-a-damp-squib/87562

NEW DELHI: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Partap Singh Bajwa’s hidden agenda of ambushing the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Delhi literally proved to be a damp squib, not just because of the heavy rains that lashed the capital, but the hidden and clandestine way the programme was planned and executed.

At the end Bajwa, who had planned a massive protest with about ten thousand people, was left with a few hundred supporters who accompanied him to the Gujarat Bhawan in the hope that they may come across Modi on his way to the rally venue.

Bajwa had planned the programme with due caution and secrecy. He had told his supporters, the MLAs, constituency incharge, block and district presidents that he would be leading them to meet the Congress president Ms Sonia Gandhi seeking relief for the farmers of Punjab. This was despite the fact that Ms Gandhi was scheduled to be in Kerala today and the tour had been planned several days ago.

They had been asked to gather at the Majnu Ka Tiilla Gurdwara in the outer Delhi area. When people started reaching there they were told that they are not meeting Ms Gandhi but planning to stage a protest at Narendra Modi’s rally venue in Rohini against his government’s decision to evict Sikh farmers from Gujarat.

As they tried to move towards the rally venue the heavy rains as also the police prevented them going there. They decided to go to Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters. ON the way they were told to proceed towards Gujarat Bhawan where Modi was said to be staying before going to the rally venue. At the end Bajwa was left with just a few hundred supporters whom he addressed outside the Gujarat Bhawan as most of the people who had come from Punjab either lost their way or preferred to turn their vehicles back towards Punjab.

Most of the leaders the Punjabnewsline talked to were annoyed and angry that they had literally been taken for a ride by Bajwa’s “secret plan”. One district president asked, “what was the point in keeping a secret?” He said, when they reached Delhi everybody seemed to know about Bajwa’s plan except those on whose support he was banking; the workers and leaders of Punjab.

Meanwhile, Congress Spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira was quoted saying that the plan was deliberately kept a secret lest the government created hurdles. He said, the purpose of the programme was to highlight the plight of the Gujarat farmers and they had succeeded at that.

A senior party leader told this reporter that instead of keeping the programme a highly guarded secret, Bajwa should have made it public and mobilised people. “More people would have reached Delhi and it could have created the desired hype and whether we could have reached the venue or not it would not have made any difference as it would have served the purpose”, he observed, while adding, the programme was well conceived but poorly executed that led it turning out to be a damp squib.