HYDERABAD: Despite last minute changes in the plan, AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday received a frenzied welcome from party workers and fans at Nirmal.
Holding flexies and flags of Congress party, hundreds of party workers travelled along with the Gandhi scion from Nanded airport, where he had landed from Delhi, to Nirmal town. Gandhi, who had earlier scheduled his travel to Nirmal from Hyderabad had changed his mind owing to ‘some unavoidable reasons’.
He reached Nirmal town at 10 p.m. after a 3-hour journey by road from Nanded. He was accompanied by AICC state in-charge Digvijay Singh and former Congress MP actor Raj Babbar.
TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy and party leaders welcomed Gandhi. Thousands of NSUI activists, youth Congress workers and fans gathered outside Mayuri Inn where Gandhi checked in for the night’s stay. The situation went out of control in mob frenzy as some of the activists broke the barricades and tried to enter the hotel premises. In the scuffle, party MLA Vamshi Chand Reddy too fell down. Party leaders V Hanumantha Rao, D Sridhar Babu, in the meantime, came out of the hotel and passified the crowd. They appealed the fans to stay calm and promised that Rahul Gandhi would meet with them during padayatra on Friday morning.
As scheduled earlier, Gandhi will begin his padayatra on Friday morning at 7 a.m from Nirmal and visit Koratikal village, Laxmanchanda, Pottupally village, Rachapur and Wadial.
He will hold a meeting with farmers here at 4 p.m, after which, he will leave Nirmal at 4.45 p.m, arrive at RGIA and proceed to Delhi at 8 p.m.