Date:09/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/09/stories/2008110957610400.htm

New Delhi

Congress to showcase senior leaders, actors for campaign

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

‘Organisational structure is being spruced up for the final assault’

Besides the top party leaders, ‘star campaigners’ Rajesh Khanna and Govinda will address rallies
A third consecutive victory would put a seal of authority on Congress’ claim of good governance

NEW DELHI: Rallies by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi will be lined up at the peak of the party’s campaign for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

The party would also be calling in its “star campaigners” like Rajesh Khanna and Govinda for the campaign.

Sources in the party said on Saturday that these elections are very important as a third consecutive victory for the Congress would put a seal of authority on its claim of good governance.

As such the party would be leaving no stone unturned to win over the hearts and votes of the electorate.

The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee has started distribution of the party symbol to the candidates. It is waiting for directions on the distribution of other election material like flags and literature. DPCC president J. P. Agarwal said the organisational structure is being spruced up for the final assault.

Meeting of party cells

“We have already convened a meeting with the Delhi unit leaders of all our frontal organisations and the 13 party cells that cover doctors, traders, teachers, ex-Servicemen and corporates, to name a few, so that they are able to mobilise all their respective units for the campaigning,” he said.

Action plan

As part of the plan of action, all these cells and organisations will first convene their meetings in the DPCC office in the coming week and then organise meetings in all the 12 districts of the Capital to enlist support for the candidates, whose details would be circulated to them by the State office.

Mobile vans

Mr. Agarwal said the party had already started campaigning through mobile vans, one of which has been deployed at the DPCC headquarters to begin with. Within a few days seven such Tata Magic vans with one LCD display each and two giant revolving “photo frames” at the front and back would take to the streets in all the seven parliamentary constituencies of Delhi.

Slogans

With slogans such as “Congress ki sarkar banayen, haath par button dabayen” (Vote for a Congress Government, press the button on the electoral symbol of Hand) pasted around, these vans would also play songs -- sung in the tune of famous Bollywood songs -- eulogising the work done by the Congress-led Delhi Government over the past ten years.