The celebrations attended by thousands including senior party leaders and members also coincided with the 54th birthday of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi / Image- IOC USA

The Indian Overseas Congress USA (IOC USA) held events across various cities in the United states to celebrate the performance of the Indian Congress Party and the I.N.D.I.A alliance In India’s recent Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress party won 99 seats in the elections compared to 52 it won in 2019, while the I.N.D.I.A bloc combined by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won a total of 232 seats. 

The celebrations attended by thousands including senior party leaders and members also coincided with the 54th birthday of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who, through his two Bharat Jodo Yatras, was instrumental in bringing about the historic election results.

In New York, vice president of IOC USA John Joseph accompanied by Vice president Baldev Singh Randhawa and general secretary Sophia Sharma, hosted a gathering of a large number of Congress supporters in Nassau County. They stressed the need of looking into the EVM problems, especially since we now have a sizable number of opposition lawmakers in parliament.  

Mohinder Singh Gilzian lauded the manner and scale of the celebrations while Amar S. Gulshan Ghotra, Leela Merat, Imran Pasha, Rajiv Gowda and other leaders traced the historical successes of the Indian Congress Party.  
 

In New Jersey, the working president of IOC USA Northeast Zone Pradeep Samala inaugurated the event which was attended by a gathering of over 400 guests. IOC officials such as, Rajeshwar Reddy, Ram Gadula, Harkesh Thakur, Peter Kothari, Gurmit Gill, Rajeev Mohan, and other leaders spoke on the importance of the recent INC.’s collaborative successes with the INDIA group.  
 

In Los Angeles, the large gathering of congress leaders and supporterswere hosted by working president of the IOC USA West Coast Zone, Devinder S. Bhullar. He was supported by Teji Mann and Onkar Singh Khakh. Many attendees sent Rahul Gandhi best wishes on his birthday and recalled memories from his his last visit to California last year.
 

In San Francisco, chairman of the IOC USA West Coast Zone, Dr. Harmesh Kumar and general secretary Gurinderpal Singh organized a meeting. Discussions included collaborative and concerted efforts and strategic AI planning for the future.  Attendees also wished Rahul Gandhi and anticipated his next visit to San Francisco.

In Dallas, the working president of IOC.USA South-East Zone Gurdev Singh Hayer celebrated the event joined by Jaswinder Randawa, Mohinder Masihna, Manjinder Rai and Tony Puriwal. The speakers all agreed that the leaders, members, volunteers, and voters were united, and that despite falling just short of the minimum requirement, it still managed to produce significant gains. 

However, it was a lesson learnt for the future and they said we will leave no stone unturned in the future. A cake cutting ceremony to wish Rahul Gandhi sent was held.
 

Retired Indian Ambassador Venu Rajamony was the special guest at a Washington, D.C., gathering of more than 70 professionals hosted by chapter president Johnson Myalil. The event was graced by Frank Islam, a prominent figure in Washington D.C., and Secretary General of  IOC USA, Harbachan Singh, who delivered the keynote speech.

Remembering the Congress party's previous triumphs, Myalil voiced his optimism and confidence that the Indian Congress Party will achieve even greater heights this time around.  A discussion followed by an in-depth Q&A session with the audience. A letter of appointment was also presented to the newly appointed chapter head of the Maryland chapter.

The event in Chicago was organized by Satheesan Nair, the president of the IOC USA Kerela Chapter. Inaugurating the joyous occasion, senior IOC USA leader Thomas Mathew extended his congratulations to all in attendance.  

The urgent necessity to address issues such as the economy, unemployment, the environment, education, inflation, agriculture, and the unique needs of the elderly was emphasized by numerous speakers.   Many prominent members of the Kerala Chapter offered insightful analysis and pledged to work harder in the upcoming term.
 

General secretary Sophia Sharma, Esq. was presented with an award at the end of the event as a token of appreciation for her outstanding work, continuous devotion, and devoted service.