Hundreds accompany Congress candidate on his way to Takht Damdama Sahib

Congress candidate from Bathinda Raninder Singh managed to pull a huge crowd on his way to Takht Damdama Sahib from Patiala on Wednesday.

Yuvraj, as he is fondly called, formally kick-started his campaign by paying obeisance at Takht Damdama Sahib. He faces Harsimrat Badal, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and daughter-in-law of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The number of supporters swelled at an exponential rate the moment he entered the constituency from Mansa and headed towards Talwandi Sabo via Sardulgarh.

More than 10-kilometre-long cavalcade accompanied Raninder, as he drove towards Talwandi Sabo. The vehicles moving in four parallel lanes moved at a snail's pace. The intensity of his crowd-puller instinct could be gauged from the fact that the cavalcade, which consisted of hundreds of vehicles, took more than 40 minutes to cover a distance of 7 kilometers— from a point near Jaga Ram Tirath to Talwandi Sabo.

The motorcade received a rousing reception at Jaga Ram Tirath, though he was four hours behind schedule. An elderly person was heard saying, “The delay is understandable due to overwhelming response Yuvraj was receiving on the way." Another spectator said, “It's worth the wait."

Dressed in white kurta-pajama, Raninder sat on top of an open vehicle and waved incessantly to supporters on the way. All the eight Congress MLAs from the parliamentary constituency — Ajit Inder Singh Mofar (Sardulgarh), Gurpreet Kangar (Rampura Phul), Harminder Jassi (Bathinda), Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu (Talwandi Sabo), Ajaib Singh Bhatti (Nathana), Mangat Rai Bansal (Budhlada), Makhan Singh (Pacca Kalan) and Sher Singh Gagowal (Mansa) — moved with Raninder.