Telangana Congress conducted ‘Bhoomi Puja’, a ritual performed in honour of Goddess Bhoomi Devi and Vastu to eradicate the ill-affects in the land, for its upcoming ‘Vijaya Bheri’ public meeting on September 17 where Sonia Gandhi will announce five guarantees for the people of Telangana, seeking their support in the ensuing Assembly elections.
AICC incharge for Telangana Manikrao Thakare, TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, TPCC Campaign Committee Chairman Madhu Yaskhi Goud and DCC president Challa Narsimha Reddy performed the puja to start the process of cleaning up the land for its important public meeting, which the Congress says, will kickstart the poll campaign in Telangana.
The 100 acres of private land abutting the Outer Ring Road in Tukkuguda is owned by Congress leader Malreddy Ram Reddy and others, and the venue for the meeting is being named after Rajiv Gandhi. The party decided on the private lands after its failed attempts to get the Parade Grounds and also the LB Stadium within the city.
The party plans to mobilise about 10 lakh people for the meeting from the 35,000 booths in the State, but the focus will be on the five Parliamentary constituencies in and around the city. “Mobilising such huge numbers is not an issue for a meeting to be attended by leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Ministers of several States but the government is planning to hinder the mobilisation. The RTC buses will not be given for hire, and the RTA officials will also target the private vehicles like they did for the Khammam meeting,” a senior Congress leader said.
But the party president A. Revanth Reddy is serious about the mobilisation as it will be followed by the Congress Working Committee meeting, when the entire nation’s focus will be on it. It is also on September 17, which is an important day for Telangana as it was ‘liberated’ and ‘integrated’ into the Indian Union in 1948. Mr. Reddy has given specific responsibilities to all the TPCC committee members, who will hold preparatory meetings from September 12 to 14.
Five guarantees
Literally treating it as the kickstart of the election campaign in Telangana, Ms. Sonia Gandhi will announce five guarantees of the party during the meeting. These guarantees will be on the lines of guarantees given to people of Karnataka where the party emerged victorious despite the best efforts of the BJP.
Party’s poll strategist, Sunil Kanugolu is finalising the five guarantees to be announced with feedback from the extensive surveys done over the last year. Sources said the guarantees will pave the way for the party’s success in the elections, and most importantly, they will be announced by Ms. Sonia Gandhi, who played a major role in granting Telangana overcoming strong opposition from the leaders of Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Revanth Reddy said Ms. Sonia Gandhi is the mother of Telangana, and her commitment to the formation of Telangana was the actual reason for the new State coming into being. The five guarantees coming from her will send a positive signal to the people as they know her love for the people of Telangana, he said.
