Sahib’s men raise slogans in vain

Sahib’s supporters were, nevertheless, hopeful of a last-minute reversal. So each time a party MLA or a senior leader arrived, they raised slogans in support of their leader.

Delhi Police personnel occasionally had to use force to prevent the crowd from coming to blows which they did yesterday. Many ministers were at a loss to offer assistance. Industry minister Harsharan Singh Balli and Transport Minister Rajendra Gupta smiled weakly as they went past the noisy crowd.

Party MLA Chand Ram, sporting bright red headgear, was not so lucky. He was heckled by the group, who pleaded with him to intervene. Ram barely managed to extricate himself out of the crowd with the help policemen, after generously dispensing assurances.

Scores of media persons were kept waiting outside. “We don’t know who is what. You have to bear with us,” said a harassed-looking constable. BJP General Secretary Venkaiah Naidu’s arrival smoothed matters for scribes, but did not diffuse the sloganeering. Naidu later said: “These people outside the gates are Congress stooges. I sent an MLA to check them out. No BJP worker would have raised slogans against his own party”.

The sloganeering reached a crescendo when Sahib Singh Verma finally arrived. The glum-looking leader was kept waiting at the gate for almost 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, he chose not to step out of his car to placate his supporters.

Once inside, Verma accompanied by BJP President Kushabhau Thakre, hurried past mediapersons into the meeting. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, Union Parliamentary Minister Madan Lal Khurana and Chief Minister-designate Sushma Swaraj used the main entrance.

The meeting started 20 minutes late and ended 20 minutes later. Sahib Singh was the first to leave at around 6.30 pm, soon after Sushma Swaraj addressed mediapersons as the new leader of the state BJP’s state legislature party.

A new group of supporters took over, raising slogans to welcome Swaraj to the Delhi CM’s chair.