HYDERABAD: As part of his efforts to ensure that Bharat Rashtra Samiti spreads its wings in other States, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will be holding a public meeting -- his first outside Telangana -- at Nanded in Maharashtra on February 5.The BRS supremo has been holding several meetings with the leaders of farmers’ associations and former MLAs from Maharashtra to get hang of the issues that dominate the neighbouring State.
According to sources, the public meeting will be held at Keeni village in Bhokar mandal which falls under Bhokar Assembly constituency from where the former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was elected to the Maharashtra Assembly. The Bhokar Assembly segment borders the Boath Assembly constituency of Telangana.
Rao is said to have chosen February 5 as the date for his public meeting in Maharashtra as by then the State Budget would have been presented in the Assembly (February 3) and that will be followed by two weekend holidays (Saturday and Sunday).
Ministers V Prasanth Reddy and Allola Indrakaran Reddy along with MLAs of Nizamabad and Adilabad are likely to tour Nanded after the budget presentation to prepare the groundwork for the public meeting.
The chief minister, along with MLC K Kavitha and leaders of farmer associations, is likely to leave for Nanded on Sunday afternoon.
Sources revealed that the chief minister is likely to visit Gurudwara Hazur Sahib, one of the five takhts in Sikhism, in Nanded and offer prayers before heading to the venue of public meeting.
Roping in Maha leaders
A senior MLA, who is in the know of preparations, told TNIE that several leaders from Rajura, Nanded, Bhokar, Naigon, Deglur, Mukhed and other constituencies are likely to participate in the meeting. Former MLA from Rajura Assembly constituency Wamanrao Chatap, who met Chandrasekhar Rao in December last year, will participate in the meeting, he added.
The Nanded meeting would be the second public meeting the chief minister would be addressing since the TRS was rechristened BRS. The first was conducted in Khammam. In fact, Rao wanted to address his first public meeting in Nanded but preferred to hold it in Khammam on January 18 as he thought it would be the right place for focusing on national politics in the presence of his counterparts from Delhi, Punjab and Kerala — Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Singh Mann and Pinarayi Vijayan respectively.
Min, MLAs groundwork
Meanwhile, Indrakaran Reddy along with Mudhol MLA G Vittal Reddy has already toured Nanded and the nearby areas and met local leaders who know Telugu. He reportedly inquired with them if they were interested in joining the BRS.
The people of Dharmabad, Bhokar, Himayat Nagar, Biloli, Deglur, Narsi, Naigam, Mutked, Umri, Kinwat and other villages in Maharashtra have been requesting for the merger of their villages in Telangana as, BRS leaders claim, they were impressed with the initiatives of the pro-farmer dispensation in Telangana.
Former Adilabad MP Gadem Nagesh also visited several villages in Kinwat-Mahor Assembly constituency in Nanded district. Adilabad MLA Jogu Ramanna visited Rajura constituency near Adilabad and met local leaders and former MLA Wamanrao Chatap.
KAVITHA, FARMER LEADERS TO ACCOMPANY
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, along with MLC K Kavitha and leaders of farmer associations, is likely to leave for Nanded on Sunday afternoon. Sources revealed that that the chief minister is likely to visit Gurudwara Hazur Sahib, one of the five takhts in Sikhism, in Nanded and offer prayers before heading to the venue of public meeting