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Journalism of Courage
Telangana Congress leaders are upbeat over Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state after nearly three years and are counting on him to infuse vigour into the party to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and BJP in the run-up to assembly polls scheduled to be held in 2023.
Gandhi is expected to arrive at Hyderabad on Friday evening and travel via helicopter to Warangal, where he is likely to announce the ‘Warangal Declaration’ – a proposal on various farmers issues – at a public meeting and sound the poll bugle.
“The Warangal public meeting ‘Rythu Sangharshana Sabha’ will be the rallying point for the Congress in Telangana. Farmers are the most affected in the state and Rahul Gandhi will take up their cause,’’ Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy said.
Telangana Congress considers Warangal as a lucky place to hold the first public meeting ahead of every election. The public meeting will be held at Arts College and Gandhi will talk about how the TRS government has failed the farmers.
Sources said that factionalism within the party and consolidation of traditional Congress vote banks will be among the topics discussed. Revanth Reddy himself is hoping that Gandhi will urge state Congress leaders to back him and give him total support. Last week, for example, senior Congress leader MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy had not attended a meeting called by the TPCC chief to discuss Gandhi’s visit. He had also issued a statement saying it was not necessary for Revanth Reddy to visit the Nalgonda area.
Sources say that it will be a difficult task for Gandhi to bring the squabbling factions together as most senior Congress leaders see Revanth Reddy as an outsider and do not want him as the TPCC chief.
After addressing the public meeting, Gandhi will head to Hyderabad and attend a series of meetings at Gandhi Bhavan in the city on Saturday. He is expected to interact with leaders and district coordinators and discuss poll strategy. While Osmania University has denied permission to Congress to hold an interaction with students, Gandhi may also interact with some students at another location.
