Our Bureau
New York, NY
More than 1,000 leaders and members of the Indian Overseas Congress USA (IOC) gathered at major cities in the USA and held events to celebrate the triumph of the democratic principles and norms in INDIA culminating with the successful joint effort of the Indian Congress Party and I.N.D.I.A during the last Lok Sabha elections. President Mohinder Singh Gilzian spear-headed and coordinated the grand celebrations in different IOC USA locations in the USA and conveyed the facilitations of Sam Pitroda to all attendees celebrating the event.
The celebrations coincided with the 54th Birthday of Rahul Gandhi and multiple toasts were joyfully proposed to him at each location with warm wishes for his good health and success in the future. The love and affection that Sri Rahul Gandhi ji had received from millions upon millions of people during his two BHARAT JODO YATRAS resonated with the crowds and filled the convention halls with cheers. Birthday cakes were cut at all celebrating locations with moods rising to high gear.
In New York, Vice President of IOC USA John Joseph, had a very impressive gathering of a large number of Congress supporters in Nassau County of New York. With the great assistance of Vice President Baldev Singh Randhawa and General Secretary Sophia Sharma, Esq. the celebrations hit a high score and tone. They emphasized the definite need to investigate the EVM issues, now that we had a sizeable number of opposition members in parliament. Mohinder Singh Gilzian was visibly very pleased to note the manner and scale these celebrations had assumed and he congratulated everyone. Amar S. Gulshan Ghotra, Leela Merat, Imran Pasha, Rajiv Gowda and other leaders spoke eloquently and traced the historical successes of the Indian Congress Party.
In New Jersey, the Working President of IOC USA Northeast Zone Pradeep Samala declared open the exciting event which was attended by a gathering of over 400 guests. Prominent IOC officials such as Rajeshwar Reddy, Ram Gadula, Harkesh Thakur, Peter Kothari, Gurmit Gill, Rajeev Mohan, and other leaders all addressed the audience on the importance of the recent INC.’s collaborative successes with the INDIA group. Entertainment, music and dance performances kept the audience thrilled and fully engaged throughout the event. It was significant that the powerful support provided by IOC USA supporters was instrumental to the new achievements and the superior gains at this year’s elections.
In Los Angeles, a large gathering of congress leaders and supporters came at the call of the Working President of the IOC USA West Coast Zone, Devinder S. Bhullar (Saab Bhullar) to celebrate the event. He was supported by Teji Mann and Onkar Singh Khakh.
In San Francisco, The Chairman of the IOC USA West Coast Zone, Dr. Harmesh Kumar and General Secretary Gurinderpal Singh organized a meeting where dozens of members and supporters converged to celebrate democracy and the strong unity of the INC party with I.N.D.I.A Alliance.
In Dallas, the Working President of the IOC USA South-East Zone Gurdev Singh Hayer celebrated the event early in a happy and festive mood. He was joined by Jaswinder Randawa, Mohinder Masihna, Manjinder Rai and Tony Puriwal. All speakers felt that the unity of the leaders, members, volunteers, and voters was steadfast, and it produced significant gains even though it fell slightly short of the minimum requirement. However, it was a lesson learnt for the future and they said we will leave no stone unturned in the future.
In Washington D.C. the Chapter President Johnson Myalil held an elegant gathering of over 70 professionals which was attended by Chief Guest retired Ambassador of India Venu Rajamony ji, and the Secretary General of IOC USA and Keynote Speaker Harbachan Singh ji and Frank Islam ji a prominent leader in the Washington D.C. area followed by several other learned leaders.
The new Chapter head of the Maryland Chapter also received his letter of appointment. The IOC chapter members felt motivated and committed themselves to support and achieve even greater success in the future.
In Chicago, the event was organized under the aegis of Satheesan Nair who is the President of the IOC USA Kerela Chapter. Senior IOC USA leader Thomas Mathew opened the celebratory event and congratulated every member of the audience. Many speakers spoke on the dire need to focus on the economy, unemployment, environment, education, inflation, agriculture and the special needs of the senior citizens. Several leaders of the Kerala Chapter made very interesting analytical remarks and vouched to work even harder now.
At the conclusion, General Secretary Ms. Sophia Sharma, Esq. received an award in recognition of her excellent performance, ongoing commitment and dedicated service.
