Haldwani, February 18
Thousands of Congress supporters were disappointed after impregnable security forced them to stay outside the M.B. Degree College ground, the venue where Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed a mammoth rally during the last leg of her election tour of Uttarakhand. Her security was tightened following the Uttarakhand police sounding the red alert after it nabbed a man carrying a country-made pistol trying to sneak into her rally venue at Almora, 96 km from here.

As people who had arrived here from far-off places in this Kamoun region listened to her on a public address system, Sonia Gandhi showed no signs of nervousness nor made any direct or indirect reference to the Almora incident in her 10-minute speech.

On the other hand, after her oration that directly addressed women and youth, she came down from the stage and briefly mixed with the crowds, much to the discomfort of her security.

Kedar Singh was arrested while trying to sneak into the venue of the rally. He said the police had held the man, who said he was from Bageshwar district, and was verifying his identity.

Addressing the crowd, Sonia Gandhi directed her speech directly at the women and the youth of the area, saying that she considered them to be the main force behind the development of this region.