A public meeting of the Congress party in UP - without a single MP and only 15 MLAs - is rarely so well attended. Except if the speaker happens to be Congress President Sonia Gandhi herself.

No Sonia and still a resposive crowd! Does it prove that the anti-BJP factor, which helped the Congress in the recent Assembly elections in the four states, has spread across the country? Or is it only a spill-over of the Delhi elections, since Ghaziabad is only 25 kms from the Capital?

Whatever the reason, the audience at today's meeting was obviously angry with the BJP's failure to check price rise. And Congress leaders, including AICC memberJitendra Prasada and UP Congress chief Salman Khurshid, exploited it to the hilt.

``First they exported onions by sea. Then they imported the same onions by air. Had it not been for elections in Delhi, onions would never have been imported''. The crowd clapped wildly in appreciation.

Pilot compared the Congress Governments' decisions with those of the BJP one on restricting price rise. ``We passed a legislation in July 1995 laying down a penalty of Rs one lakh with one year imprisonment for hoarders. Food Minister Surjit Singh Barnala got it amended in the last session by reducing the penalty to Rs 25,000 and the sentence to three months, thereby abetting hoarding,''he said.

A local leader touches a raw nerve, ``They promised to provide us a clean and corruption-free administration, but could not provide even onions. Atal Behari had demanded Indira's resignation when onion prices had soared to Rs 6 in 1980. Why doesn't he resign now that the onion prices have touched the Rs 80 mark? ''

The speechesare laced with sarcasm and the crowd loves every bit of it. ``Just go through the Parliamentary speeches of 1993-94. See what George Fernandez and Mamata Banerjee used to say about BJP. Now they are all friends!''

The BJP did not allow the Parliament to function for a full 13 days, demanding an inquiry against the then Communications Minister Sukhram. ``After we expelled him from the Congress, the BJP sprinkled ganga jal

on him and all his sins were washed,'' Pilot said.

He quoted BJP leaders as having accused J Jayalalita of amassing a huge fortune including 50,000 sarees and 10,000 sandals. ``They accused us of not dismissing her Government. See now who is saving whose Government. Vajpayee bows before her every now and then. Maybe some sacred water has been sprinkled on her as well.''