An overnight’s stay in a tribal hamlet either in Narsapur (Medak district) or Nirmal (Adilabad district) and visit to Osmania University campus are likely to top the agenda of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his tour of the State on or after May 10.
In a clear indication that the State Congress leaders are keen on embarrassing the TRS government for its ‘failure’ to bail out farmers and fulfil its promise of employment to jobless youth, particularly through the Public Service Commission notification, Mr. Rahul’s itinerary is being fine-tuned in a such a way that he meets the disgruntled students on OU campus and the farmers in the rural area during his padayatra.
Though the Congress leaders involved in finalising the programme are tight-lipped about whether it will be a day-long or two-day visit, one thing that has emerged is that Mr Rahul intends to spend fruitful time with the farmers to understand their sufferings. “Yes, we have shortlisted Narsapur and Nirmal constituencies for the programme,” a top Telangana PCC functionary told The Hindu . But, it is becoming clear that Mr. Rahul will, in all likelihood on his arrival in Hyderabad on or after May 10, drive down to OU campus.
“What better place than OU campus for Mr. Rahul to interact with the students, who were instrumental in taking the statehood movement to its peak and forcing UPA Government to announce Telangana,” a Congress leader remarked.
The AICC vice-president would then travel to a tribal hamlet in Medak or Adilabad district for an overnight’s stay.
He would have his dinner with tribal people and launch his padayatra covering around 20-22 km at around 8 a.m. the next day. A team of Congress leaders have visited Narsapur and Nirmal constituency to gather details of families of farmers, who ended their lives, and zeroed in on six families. Mr. Rahul is expected to cover the distance in six hours and wound up his yatra with a public meeting before returning to Hyderabad.