Ceremony today,party expects a crowd of 20,000. For the new Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Partap Singh Bajwa,who says the party needs to work with missionary zeal, to preach is to practice it. Bajwa has pulled out all stops to ensure that his charge taking on March 23 is unprecedented,in numbers,dignitary list and a personal touch through his photographs on the entry cards issued to VVIPs,office-bearers and the media. The VVIP invitee list includes two Chief Ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Haryana) and Virbhadra Singh (Himachal Pradesh) Union ministers Preneet Kaur and Manish Tewari,former Union minister Ambika Soni,former PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh besides state MPs,MLAs and other former PPCC presidents. For ensuring the numbers,Bajwa had on Monday appointed 27 observers for overlooking the arrangements for his big day. The list includes 13 MLAs,many of who excused themselves from the partys mock Assembly session. An informal meeting of block and district Youth Congress leaders was held at Chimney Heights in Zirakpur Wednesday to ensure numbers at the event. Bajwa,however,said he had called the Youth Congress office-bearers to inspire them to work as partys footsoldiers to take on the ruling SAD-BJP alliance. I will hold formal meetings only after taking over formally. I only told them how I started as a District Youth Congress president in 1978 and stormed Badals office and was sent behind bars. I told them to be prepared to play the same role now, he said. The Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh has requisitioned the UT Administration to provide security during the function and has cited that 20,000 people will attend the event. We will be erecting tents and putting up LCD screens. The Congress Bhawan can house only 7,000 to 8000 people and the rest will be outside, Congress Bhawan office secretary Nirmal Singh said. His loyalists want the crowd to be least at par with that during Amarinders coronation in November 2010 when the number was pegged at nearly 25000. The publicity for the Bajwa begins at home. Leading the charge is his younger brother,Fateh Bajwa,who was touring Majha belt Thursday to inspire district and block units to issue advertisements in local dailies welcoming the new president. Since only a few ads have been issued hailing his appointment,most of them by his own office,district and block level committees are being told to enthuse the cadre by issuing welcome ads, a Congress leader of Majha said on condition of anonymity. His other loyalists are trying to ensure numbers from Malwa and Doaba. Interestingly,while the opposition Congress MLAs on Thursday hit out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy CM son Sukhbir Badal for planting their pictures on the budget document after ambulances and blue cards for subsidised atta-dal,a few,showing entry passes with Bajwas pictures,murmured how even their own party was being inspired by the Badals. Meanwhile,the rooms occupied by the coterie of his predecessor,Amarinder,are now up for grabs as a new coterie comes in former MLA Sukhpal Khaira,MLA Randeep Nabha,Parminder Singh Pinky and Fateh Bajwa,all of whom have picked up the rooms they want.
