LAHORE, May 12: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi’s son Moonis Elahi led hundreds of buses packed with `Pakistan Muslim League workers’ and whosoever available in the city to the president’s rally in Islamabad on Saturday.

Lahore Nazim Mian Amer Mehmood joined the procession at Babu Sabu interchange where the participants were entertained with bottled water and sweets.

Mr Elahi left for the motorway from Qadhafi Stadium where he was joined by other processions, which had reached there from several parts of the city.

The procession included buses impounded by police and district administration, private cars and jeeps.

No speech was delivered on the occasion but Mr Elahi told a TV channel this was his first political journey which would promote democracy in the country. He said he believed in the political style of his family. He said PML opponents should see his caravan which, according to him, had carried only party workers.

PML leaders Mian Munir and minister Chaudhry Zaheeruddin were prominent among others.

Lahore’s roughnecks too were seen in the rally. They included Gowalmandi fame Teefi Butt.

Mr Mahmood’s procession was managed by town nazim Idrees Hanif and his father Haji Hanif who joined the ruling PML before the local council elections. Previously he was the activist of the PML-N responsible for holding demonstrations against the government for nearly seven years.

Though PML leaders claimed the participants were party activists, reports indicated the participants also included government servants, common people, construction workers and homeless people.

Low grade employees from the agriculture, health, education and city district government departments were coerced into attending the Islamabad rally besides wage from Rs300 to Rs500 to each participant.

An Agriculture Department messenger said he was going to Islamabad to save his job. Those taking him and others to the federal capital would mark their attendance there, he claimed.

A woman teacher and a health worker said they were going to Islamabad without their will and that just to save their jobs which they needed for their families.

Besides prominent PML leaders, ‘musclemen’ too used their ‘clout’ to gather people for the rally. This worked well as poor people could not resist the local roughnecks and the money they were offered for the “free trip” to the capital which they could not otherwise see.

People from various localities in the downtown said they had seen vehicles picking construction labourers for the rally offering them wages double than their normal rates besides food and bottled water.

Early in the morning, buses were seen near Nasser Bagh and Minto Parks picking homeless people asleep there for the joy ride.

Insiders said the PML leadership had opened their coffers to facilitate the participants.

Some PML activists claimed Lahore Development Authority employees were gathered in a wedding hall in front of Sabzazaar to keep them from the public and the press, and they were taken to the motorway directly from there.