Congress supporters celebrate outside Amarinder Singh’s residence on Saturday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 11

As trends indicated the Congress party’s resounding victory in Punjab, the scene outside Captain Amarider Singh’s house transformed from quiet to festive jubilation within barely an hour. Since 10 am, as trends put Congress in the lead, supporters, armed with bouquets, poured into the Congress leader’s house amid victorious drum beats.Some police officers and bureaucrats were also present.Incidentally, Saturday marked the Congress leader’s 75th birthday.Apparently taking a lesson from assembly elections in 2012, when celebrations had to be called off after the Congress realised that results had not gone their way, Singh chose to remain in his room until 12 pm, tracking trends on television with his family and some close friends. He joined his party workers in celebration only after trends showed that the party was leading in 79 seats.Singh later left for his hometown Patiala —his own constituency — to collect his MLA certificate and personally thank voters.The house remained out-of-bounds for the media until 11 am.The Congress leader’s newly-wed grandson, Nirvan and his wife Mriganka Singh — granddaughter of senior Congress leader Karan Singh and scion of erstwhile Royal family of Jammu and Kashmir — made a public appearance to congratulate him.Punjab Congress’s Sector 15 office also witnessed celebrations.Among bureaucrats and police officers at Singh’s residence were KBS Sidhu, additional chief secretary-home secretary; Sanjeev Gupta, DGP; KAP Sinha, principal secretary (GA); SK Sharma, former IG; DP Reddy, secretary, Local Bodies; and VK Uppal, ADGP Ajay Kumar Pandey, IG.