Jaiswal supporters march to the tunes of victory

KANPUR: It was a show of strength in the form of a march, taken out by the party workers of Congress in the south city on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the victory of Sriprakash Jaiswal in the Lok Sabha elections 2009. The march was given the name `Aabhar pradarshan aur Kanpur jodo yatra' but, in reality, it was a reply to Jaiswal's opponents within the party.
On May 2, internal bickering among the Congress workers had spilled on to the roads when supporters of Ajay Kapoor and Sriprakash Jaiswal had clashed in the Lal Bangla area under the Chakeri police station. FIRs were lodged by the supporters of the two leaders. Keeping in mind the sensitive issue, the district administration did not allow Sriprakash Jaiswal to carry on the march beyond Chawla Market Crossing, it being the constituency of Ajay Kapoor.
Earlier, the march started at 11.00am, an hour later than the scheduled time. Despite heat and humidity, Sriprakash Jaiswal along with hundreds of his supporters and party workers left Kidwainagar Crossing to reach Chawla Market in Govindnagar to mark the end of the march.
When asked why the march route was chosen to be particularly in Kanpur South from Kidwainagar to Chawla Market, senior Congress leader, Rizwan Hamid said, "As our leader Sriprakash Jaiswal felt Kanpur South is a big area and many places are still untouched so he decided to take out a march in this area to thank people for giving him tremendous support in this Lok Sabha elections.''
People from all walks of life formed the part of the march and shouted slogans like `Jai Ho' and 'Sriprakash zindabad' etc. The most noticeable punchline of all was `Uda di gilli, jeet liya final, woh mara hat-trick ka chakka' which was mentioned on the placards held by the party workers.
Wearing the Congress cap, a 75-year-old man, who was carrying Nehru-Gandhi family photos was yet another attraction of the show. The old man while talking to TOI said, "It is only the Congress which can provide stable government in the Centre. The party has been my first love since my days of youth."
A physically challenged middle-aged man moving on his tri-cycle next to Sriprakash Jaiswal raised interesting slogans in favour of the Congress party and Jaiswal. The patriotic songs aired through loudspeakers at Kidwainagar Crossing were enough to give the entire march a patriotic flavour. Members of youth brigade of the Congress party like Faraz Ansari, Vijay Gupta and others walked with party flags and waved them on their way to Chawla Market.
The enthusiastic party workers, both men and women, also danced to the tunes of drum and offered sweets to each other. By the time, Sriprakash Jaiswal reached Chawla Market Crossing, Rajaram Pal, the victorious Congress candidate from Akbarpur Lok Sabha seat joined the victory march and shared the podium with Jaiswal, where the two were honoured by the city Congress leaders and locals.