Large turnout at rally signals Cong revival in Delhi

NEW DELHI: If the crowd at Rahul Gandhi’s rally in South Delhi is any indication, the Congress party seems to have hit the ‘rejuvenate’ button in Delhi. Thousands of Congress supporters thronged the Virat Cinema ground in Ambedkar Nagar’s Dakshinpuri - making it the Congress’ biggest show of strength in this election till now.

It was the same venue where the then CM Sheila Dikshit had to actually plead the crowd to stop leaving the venue when Rahul had risen to speak two weeks before the assembly polls. Poll pundits had predicted a complete wipe out of the party after the rally. The party leadership too was later found scrambling for excuses to justify the poor turnout at the rally. The Sunday rally, however, was in complete contrast to the November rally. “Today’s rally has proved that the Congress party cannot be discounted,” a senior Delhi Congress leader said.

The huge turnout has served two purposes. It has sent out a signal that the poor and Dalits, who had gravitated to AAP, are slowly coming back to its fold. Also, the new state leadership has managed to score some brownie points with the central leadership. Despite pressure to organise the rally in North East Delhi or East Delhi, Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh, legislative party leader Haroon Yusuf and spokesperson Mukesh Sharma stuck to their stands and personally addressed several corner meetings to make the rally a success.