Congress pins hopes on Rahul
Hyderabad : After Congress president Sonia Gandhi's morale-boosting visit to Telangana, it is now the turn of her son and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to address election rallies in the region to pep up the spirit of the party cadre.
Rahul will make a whirlwind tour of the region and address public meetings at Mahaboobnagar and Nizamabad today. The meetings will surely gladden the hearts of Congress leaders who are facing a formidable challenge from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the April 30 elections.
There is a growing perception in some quarters that Congress leaders have not been able to effectively take the message to the people that the statehood dream has come true solely because of the initiative taken by the UPA government headed by Congress.
On the other hand, TRS has been aggressively projecting itself as the sole champion of Telangana cause and claiming the entire credit for itself. Against this backdrop, the Telangana Congress have drawn up plans to rope in Sonia and Rahul, the two star campaigners of the party, to address as many election rallies as possible in the region.
Rahul would arrive in Mahabubnagar at 2 pm and address a public meeting in the town at 3 pm. Later, he would proceed to Nizamabad to address a rally at 4.30 pm before returning to New Delhi.
Like his mother's emotional pitch at the Karimnagar meeting recently, Rahul is also expected to harp on the Telangana statehood theme and remind the people about the pains taken by his party to ensure the passage of Telangana Bill in the Parliament overcoming several hurdles along the way.
For Rahul, this would be the first political meeting in the state after a gap of over five years.His last political outing was in April, 2009. The Telangana Congress leaders are confident that Rahul's visit would energize the cadres and boost the party's poll prospects in the region.
Having taken the bold decision to bifurcate the state at the cost of party's interests in Seemandhra, the ruling party is keen on leveraging the Telangana sentiment in its favor and win a majority seats in the region.
At Karimnagar meeting recently, Sonia had made it clear that Congress alone was responsible for realizing the statehood dream of the people of Telangana and that TRS had no role in formulation and passage of the Telangana bill in the Parliament.
News Posted: 21 April, 2014
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