The Ahmedabad heat did not seem to deter Congress leaders at all as they went about showering praises on the prosperity of the state and its people on Thursday evening. The leaders of the grand old party of India had gathered in Gandhinagar to celebrate the 50th birthday of the independent state of Gujarat. The celebration was a public rally, addressed by senior Congress leaders.
Political advisor to Sonia Gandhi and Gujarat Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Goa CM Digambar Kamat, former union minister Anand Sharma and AICC secretary Rajiv Shukla had arrived from Delhi for the event. The who's who of the Congress in Gujarat was also present in full force. Former chief ministers Madhavsinh Solanki, Shankersinh Vaghela and Dilip Parikh and Union ministers Bharatsinh Solanki, Tusharsinh Chaudhary and Dinsha Patel were present. Shaktisinh Gohil and Siddharth Patel were the main anchors of the event.
The overriding sentiment was that Gujarat's prosperity has existed long before the current BJP establishment took over, and that the development should be credited to the industrious people of Gujarat and those leaders who contributed to the creation of the state five decades back.
The event saw a huge turnout from Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and the surrounding areas. The main idea behind the event was to belittle Narendra Modi's flamboyant celebrations, on which crores have been spent.
