Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi visit leaves Tembhali awed

It is not everyday that a tribal village wakes up to so much flutter around. At Tembhali on Wednesday, the dominant mood was one of awe and bewilderment. However, as the villagers watched prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from close quarters, the unease lifted a bit.

The sarpanch of Tembhali Chhabadibai Sonawane was left speechless when she was asked to welcome the dignitaries. But she overcame the trepidation and ended up on a happy note.

“I actually met Sonia Gandhi, which I had never dreamt of. She (Sonia) was so kind; she patted my back,’’ Sonawane gushed afterwards. She also had a question for the Congress chief: "Since you are here, we saw many new things, but can you continue to bring this development in our village?” She said Soniaji heard her patiently and assured her of action.

The chosen 10 for the unique identity cards were almost petrified by all the attention. Ratna Shiva Wagh, 20, who too was scared initially, later spoke to DNA. “I met her. I cannot believe that, I actually met Sonia Gandhi. She is such a big leader and the way she treated me was nothing but like a dream to me,” she said. Ratna, a landless labourer, however, has very little knowledge of the card the leader handed over to her.

But others were smart enough to put some demands across. Raju Makkhan, 18, submitted a note full of demands to chief minister Ashok Chavan. “The letter sought a few things we wanted in our village. Our demands are for better roads, school and electricity,” said Makkhan, who handed over the letter to Chavan.

Arvind Sonawane, a landless labourer, had a few questions for the leaders. “It was so nice of you to come here, but will this project be completed or will it be abandoned midway? There are many projects which the ministers left half done. It will be better if you could give us farm land along with the cards,” said Sonawane.