Rahul Gandhi to undertake 15-km ‘padyatra’ in T’gana

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will embark on a two-day visit to Telangana, beginning Thursday, which would include a 15 km ‘padayatra’ in Adilabad district.

According to Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, TPCC working President, Gandhi’s visit is to highlight the plight of farmers in the country in general and state in particular. He will stay in <g data-gr-id="31">Nrimal</g> town on Thursday night, he said.

Gandhi’s visit is seen as a morale boost for the party cadre as this would be his maiden visit to the state after separation from Andhra Pradesh on June 2, 2014.

Despite aggressive campaigning and claiming credit for <g data-gr-id="26">separate</g> statehood of Telangana, the Congress lost the elections in the state last year.

The Gandhi scion would arrive at the international airport at 4 pm and briefly interact with student leaders of the Osmania University, who have been agitating on employment issues.

Gandhi would then proceed to Nirmal by road and may stop at a few points <g data-gr-id="29">enroute</g>. The next day he will proceed on a ‘padayatra’ from Vadiyala village at 7am, the TPCC leader said.

“He will meet the families of farmers who have allegedly committed suicide due to agrarian distress in Telangana and console them,” he added.

Also, Gandhi will address farmers at Koratikal village around 4pm and return to Hyderabad after the event, and would leave for Delhi by 8pm, according to Mallu.

Prior to his Telangana visit, Gandhi had aggressively raised farmers’ issues in Parliament and also reached out to farmers in Punjab and Maharastra.

Mallu said as many as 936 farmers committed suicide in the state in the recent past. Telangana opposition parties Congress, TDP, BJP and others, too, alleged that hundreds of farmers have committed suicide due to agrarian crisis since the TRS government came to power last year, a charge denied by the administration.