Rush of delegates to Jan Sangh session

A last-minute rush of delegates has somewhat upset the arrangements for the fourteenth annual session of the Jan Sangh which began here [Calicut] to-day [December 28]. As against the 5,000 delegates originally expected, according to latest information at the reception office nearly 10,000 delegates are likely to attend the session. All incoming mail and passenger trains are running over-crowded with two or three additional bogies attached. A large number of special buses have come from Andhra, Maharashtra, Mysore, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, besides private cars, bringing the delegates. Wherever one turned in Calicut, one can see the saffron coloured caps of the delegates. Because of the rush of delegates, the conference reception committee has run short of badges. Seating arrangements inside the pandal have had to be reorganised. A team of 40 cooks has arrived from Nagpur to cook north Indian dishes for the delegates. They are said to be turning out chappatis at the rate of 40,000 per day. A huge pandal has been put up in the football ground of the Zamorin’s High School for the session. Decorated extensively with products of the coconut tree, the venue is named after Sri Narayana Guru, Kerala’s 20th century savant and social reformer. A giant-sized portrait of Bharatamata, which forms the backdrop of the dais, is shown as attacking a dragon coming from the east with a spear and an axe, and a crowd of horned demons from the west with a sword against them.