Vitthal, Vitthal it8217;s Sonia!

PANDHARPUR: Sonia Gandhi caught the temple town of Pandharpur, a major pilgrim centre of western Maharashtra, unawares when she turned up...

PANDHARPUR: Sonia Gandhi caught the temple town of Pandharpur, a major pilgrim centre of western Maharashtra, unawares when she turned up to campaign and address a rally on Monday. There were many red faces in the local Congress unit as it failed to muster up a decent crowd since she was actually scheduled to address a meeting at Sangli and Pandharpur on September 2. Prakash Yalgulwar, Solapur city Congress president, was apologetic. 8220;The rally was suddenly organised. I came to know of it yesterday,8221; he said.

Not that it made much of a difference for Pandharpur is a Congress bastion and Sandeepan Thorat of the party is seeking re-election for the eighth time. Draped in a green cotton sari, Sonia was in town for just 26 minutes and her speech lasted 16 minutes. The rest of the 10 minutes were spent at the famous Vitthal temple where, in accordance with tradition, she touched the feet of the deity.

Somewhat fumbling while pronouncing local names, she played the Chhatrapati Shivaji card, criticisingthe saffron alliance. 8220;Think of what they have delivered in the past five years. They have no right to claim the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji,8221; she said. Parties using religion, she said, were out to destroy the rich tradition of saints and freedom-fighter-socialists like Sane Guruji, she told the crowd. And she was gone as quickly as she came, leaving her party workers dazed and the people back to 8220;Vitthal, Vitthal8221;.

JAMSHEDPUR: The BJP nominee for the Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat, Laxman Gilua, is cooling his heels in jail after surrendering before the Saraikela court in connection with two murder cases. The sitting BJP MLA from Chakradharpur, Gilua was wanted for two murders dating to 1990 and 1991 and for possessing illegal firearms. He surrendered on Monday, and the additional district and sessions judge rejected his bail petition and sent him to Chaibasa jail. Later, Gilua went to the Chaibasa Deputy District Election Office under police escort to file his nomination papers but these werenot accepted as he had come too late.

BARODA: Sometimes, even enthusiasm can be disappointing. At an election rally of A.B. Vajpayee on Monday night here, Gujarat Jail Minister Jaspal Singh urged the crowd to come towards the stage to fill the blank area around it as 8220;Vajpayeeji wants to see you8221;. The people apparently were so enthused by the idea that they climbed on each other to reach the dais, felling security barricades, triggering off a stampede and seriously hurting one person in the process.