'Blueprint For Telangana's New Dawn Is Ready': Kharge Ahead Of Rahul Gandhi's Address At Khammam

Ahead of the party's grand public meeting in Telangana's Khammam, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party's blueprint for a "new dawn" in the state is ready.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said that the party's blueprint for a "new dawn" in Telangana is ready and claimed that 3.8 crore people in the state want change. Kharge said that the party was proud of its collective leadership in Telangana. The remarks were made ahead of the party's grand public meeting at Khammam where Rahul Gandhi will sound the poll bugle and address the masses on Sunday. The Assembly elections in the state is set to be held in the next few months. 

"3.8 Crore people of Telangana want change. Shri Rahul Gandhi's #TelanganaJanaGarjana grand rally shall be voicing their shared aspirations, today," Kharge said on Twitter.

"The Congress party is proud of the collective leadership of Telangana Congress. Our blueprint for a new dawn in Telangana is ready," he also said.

"We are strongly committed to the development and progress of Telangana based on social justice and equity," the Congress chief said.

Kharge also mentioned that several senior leaders from other parties will join the Congress and strengthen the hands of the people. 

Congress State Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka's  'padayatra' would also conclude at the rally.  Gandhi would felicitate Vikramarka, who began his foot march near Adilabad, covering 1,360 km in 108 days as on Saturday, PTI quoted party sources. At the meeting, former Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy would formally join the Congress. Reddy and ex-minister Jupally Krishna Rao had recently announced their decision to join the party.

The victory of the Congress in recent Karnataka elections has given a boost to the party unit in neighbouring Telangana. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A Revanth Reddy has said the party would end the BRS rule in the state with the rally in Khammam. Reddy said the Congress would sound the bugle for elections with the Khammam rally and expressed confidence that the meeting would be attended by more people compared to the number of people who attended the public meeting organised earlier by the ruling BRS.

Eyeing the Telangana assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to make the Rahul Gandhi rally a huge success. The party is also seeking to ward off the challenge from BJP which is making efforts to emerge as the alternative to ruling BRS.

Congress has been the main opposition party in Telangana since the formation of the state in 2014. However, BJP had won two assembly bypolls and came up with good performance in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections during the last couple of years, posing a threat of occupying the main opposition space held by the Congress.