About one hundred thousand people crammed the grounds near the Chandigarh railway station in Punjab, India, to welcome Congress Party president Mr. Dev Kant Barooah.

The people joined a ceremonial procession from the station through the streets of the town to the tiny village of Kamagata Maru Nagar where the 75th Plenary session of the Congress Party was being held.

Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi arrived at Chandigarh soon after Mr. Barooah.

The party later decided that general elections, due by March 1976, would be delayed for at least a year.

A detailed resolution at the conference gave no indication that the government planned to release hundreds of jailed opposition figures.

The resolution said the emergency had to be continued until "grave external threats facing the nations were contained", and that the life of the present government had to be extended to "provide continuity in its drive for economy and political stability".

The resolution requires formal approval by Parliament, but the ruling party has a two-thirds majority in both houses and would have no difficulty pushing through the extension.

The move to delay the elections is also seen as indication that the Congress Party may be debating major constitutional changes.

Parliament is due to meet on 5 January for its second session since an internal emergency was imposed on India six months ago.

Mr. Barooah, 61, was re-elected unopposed as party president.

Tight security precautions were in force, with each delegate being searched before being allowed to join the meeting.

The 75th Plenary Session of Indian National Congress, the ruling political party of India got under way with the arrival in Chandigarh of the Party President Mr. Dev Kant Barooah. He arrived there by a special train from Delhi and was soon taken in procession through the streets of Punjab's capital city built by Le Corbusier. Nearly a hundred thousand people joined in the procession. In the procession were sturdy farmers of Punjab driving their tractors. There were several tableaux depicting the progress made by the country. Members of Congress Seva Dal, a voluntary force of the party presented a Guard of Honour to Mr. Barooah. Formal business sessions will start from 29th of January. Mrs. Gandhi has also arrived in Chandigarh to participate in the meeting.

SYNOPSIS: About one hundred thousand people packed the grounds around Chandigarh railway station in Punjab on Sunday to join Congress Party President Mr. Dev Kant Barooah in a ceremonial procession that lasted three hours.

He arrived by train from New Delhi for the seventy-fifth Plenary session of the Congress. The procession took him to the Conference Centre in the small village of Kamagata Maru Nagar, near Chandigarh.

In one of the first moves of the conference, Mr. Barooah was re-elected unopposed as party president. Later, the party decided that general elections, due in March, would be delayed for at least a year. The resolution required formal approval by Parliament, but the ruling party has a two-thirds majority in both houses and would have no difficulty pushing through the extension.