Here, it’s Sonia or no one else

Dr Manmohan Singh may have been elected the Congress Parliamentary Party leader but for the voters of Rae Bareli, who have elected Sonia Gan...

Dr Manmohan Singh may have been elected the Congress Parliamentary Party leader but for the voters of Rae Bareli, who have elected Sonia Gandhi with over 3.76 lakh votes, she is their only choice as the Prime Minister.

‘‘Sonia nahin to koi nahin. Hamara PM kaisa ho, Sonia Gandhi jaisa ho (It is Sonia or no one else. Who should be our PM? Who else but Sonia Gandhi?)’’ Thousands of Congress workers and leaders have been raising the slogan since Tuesday, when they had gathered at the party office to celebrate the event of Sonia becoming the Prime Minister. But the mood of joy soon changed to that of mourning, as news filtered in that Sonia has rejected the PM’s post.

The agitated party workers blocked movement of a few trains, including the Punjab Mail and the Lucknow-Varanasi Passenger train, passing through Rae Bareli to protest against Sonia’s decision. Today, police had to fire in the air to maintain order as Congress workers stepped up their agitation.

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The ramshackle Congress office here on Kotwali Road does not even have a television, forcing Congress workers to gather in front of TV sets in nearby shops to keep abreast of the happenings in Delhi. The despair was writ large on their faces as the channels began to flash the news that Dr Manmohan Singh is tipped to be the next Prime Minister.

‘‘We have decided to go on a relay strike and have faxed a collective resignation letter to the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road in New Delhi. We will continue the agitation till our demand that Soniaji should reconsider her decision and become the PM is met,’’ says Uma Shanker Mishra, the octogenarian city unit president of the Congress.

Back in 1984, when Indira Gandhi used to represent the constituency, Rae Bareli was the hub of industrial activities with good roads and no paucity of water or electricity. After her, the place turned into a graveyard for industrial units, the roads became pot-holed and an eight-hour power cut became routine, says a senior Congress leader.

‘‘We hoped that things will improve with Sonia becoming the PM but we have been deprived of that benefit for no fault of ours, because we ensured her victory with a record margin,’’ says Raj Kumar Mishra, a Congress leader.

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While he was dejected with Sonia not becoming the PM, a group of young party workers tried to look for an answer behind Sonia’s refusal. ‘‘Uma, Sushma hai, hai (Down with Uma Bharati and Sushma Swaraj),’’ they cried, giving vent to their ire against the two BJP leaders for raising the foreign-origin issue.

Some Congress leaders even looked for a silver lining behind Sonia’s decision to make Dr Singh the Prime Minister. ‘‘She has brought Manmohan to the forefront to counter the blot on the Congress over the anti-Sikh riots in 1984. The Congress is set to sweep the next elections in the state and also at the Centre,’’ says Ram Kumar Mishra, who owns a garments shop on Collectorate Road.

Nagamallaiah, the victim, who is originally from Karnataka, was attacked by his co-worker-- Yordanis Cobos-Martinez at the Downtown Suites motel where he worked.

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