'Aapki chahiti neta, Sonia Gandhiji, chand samay mein aap ke saamne upasthit hogi.' (Your favourite leader Sonia Gandhi, will arrive in a short while)

The announcement resounds once again, just as enthusiastically as it had many times earlier. Then, the time-honoured classic, Jahan dil mein sachai rehti hai ( Where truth resides in the hearts) from Manoj Kumar's patriotic film, Purab Aur Paschim, streams through the speakers.

Both the announcement, and the song, are received with deep indifference, as the crowd continues to settle in, wiping dusty chairs with their Congress caps and scarves before sitting down and waiting for Madamji to make her appearance.

As far as a show of strength is concerned, it is certainly impressive. The massive MMRDA ground at Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla complex is packed to capacity. A senior police inspector on duty estimates the turn-out to be at least 50,000. It is clearly representative of the Congress vote bank.

There are the colourfully dressed Hindu women of all ages, wearing the tricolour Congress cap and scarf, some tugging along recalcitrant children.

And there are the traditionally dressed Muslims -- the men in white shalwar-kurtas and caps, the women covered from head to toe in black burkhas, many with only their kohl-lined eyes showing.

There are the Kolis (Mumbai's traditional fisher folk community), many of whom have come all the way from Colaba, their eyes still dark with the memory of the terrible terror carnage inflicted on Mumbai late last year.

There are labourers who have come from North India to find salvation in India's city of dreams.

And, overwhelmingly, there are the youth, enthusiastically capped in the Congress colours.

Binding them all together is a thread of hope -- for 24 hours water, for a sturdier home, for financial security, for a life better than the one they were living.

Or so it seems.

Image: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during her rally in Mumbai

Also see: Nostalgia makes Guna vote for Maharaj-turned-MP | India Votes 2009

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