Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Frosty northerlies blowing across the city failed to chill the enthusiasm of Congressmen who gathered in different areas in Bhopal to welcome newly appointed MPCC president Jitu Patwari who took the oath on Tuesday.
The Congress workers set up stages and gates at differentplaces to give a rousing welcome to their leader, and there was not an iota of disappointment on their faces because of the defeat in the recently concluded assembly election.
Patwari who set out of Indore in the morning reached the party headquarters in the station late in the evening. He took almost 12 hours because of the welcome he received on the way. At the party office, Patwari told the Congress workers that they would ensure implementation of the promises made by the BJP in their manifesto.
He said, “We will wait till January-end. If the ruling party does not implement the promises, we will organise a rally of two lakh people in Bhopal.” He said in coming days the Lok Sabha election are coming and the Congress have to extent their ideology to every house of the state.
“The ideology of the Congress is the ideology of our ancient India, the ideology of Lord Ram. Which have love and mercy to each and every person of the universe”, he said. He raised the issue of removal of Jawaharlal Nehru portrait from state assembly.
He said “We welcome the installation of Dr Ambedkar portrait in the house, but both of the portrait can be established, but it was not done”. He also claimed that the Congress party is with the Behanas’ of the state and the Congress will ensure that they shall get Rs 3,000 per month as they promised in their manifesto.
Nevertheless, no senior leader of the party was accompanying Patwari, because former MPCC president Kamal Nath was abroad and Digvijaya Singh was in Delhi. Likewise Ajay Singh was in Sidhi.
Patwari began set out for the party headquarters in Bhopal after offering prayers at Mahakal Temple in Ujjain. He sought the blessings of Mahakal, because the path ahead is thorny. He has to raise the party from the scratch. A large cavalcade travelling with Patwari took almost six hours to reach the PCC office. In midway from Lalghati to PCC office hundreds of dais were raised by the party supporters of MLA Atif Aqueel and Arif Masood, place to place, to welcome the new president. The Congress candidate from Narela constituency Sanjay Shukla welcomed Patwari at Lalghati square with his supporters.
The daily commuters had to face huge problems in reaching their destination because of the rally.
