HYDERABAD: With an eye on the tribal vote bank, the TPCC is planning to bring its new AICC president Rahul Gandhi to attend the biannual Sammakka Sarakka jatara, considered to be the biggest tribal congregation in the entire country, next year. The jatara is scheduled to be held from January 31, 2018 to February 3 at Medaram in Mulugu mandal in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.
The TPCC has been trying to hold a public meeting with Rahul Gandhi even before his appointment as the party national chief on December 9, the day on which Sonia Gandhi announced carving of separate Telangana when she was the UPA chairperson, but the Gujarat elections forced the party to defer the meeting.
Initially, the TPCC leadership wanted Rahul Gandhi to address a public meeting in January first week itself either at Mahabubabad or Warangal but the party went back as it thought that the days before Sankranthi are considered to be inauspicious. “Now, we will try to bring Rahul Gandhi to visit the Sammakka Sarakka jatara on any one of the day of the festival,” a party leader said.
The TPCC is on the job of preparing a draft on the importance of the tribal festival which will attract people not just from Telangana but from neighbouring Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and also Andhra Pradesh. “He might not address a public meeting if he comes for the jatara,’’ the leader said adding that the contentious and the burning issue of Adivasi-Lambada conflict will also be not touched if he comes to the tribal-dominated district.
Party leaders felt that Rahul’s visit to the jatara might attract the tribals back into their fold. The State has nine ST reserved Assembly seats and tribals hold a considerable hold in several other constituencies across the State, more particularly in erstwhile Adilabad, Warangal and Khammam districts of North Telangana.
Party post or elected post, TPCC workers can keep only one
Meanwhile, sources said the party is also mulling a proposal where it would be made mandatory that a leader, who is holding a party post, can not contest an election, while a leader, who want to be in poll fray, can not aspire for a party post.
TPCC gets cultural wing chairman and media advisor
On Friday, the TPCC appointed a media advisor for Telangana. Tirumalagiri Surender, who was the Press Academy chairman in United AP, is the media advisor. Noted singer Epuri Somanna is appointed as the chief of cultural wing, Samskritika Sena.