HYDERABAD : Congress national vice-president Rahul Gandhi will tour Telangana on May 6 and 7, party’s State chief A Revanth Reddy announced on Saturday. He said that Gandhi would address a massive public meeting ‘Rythu Sangharshana Sabha’ at Arts and Science College ground in Warangal on May 6, with primary focus on the agrarian issues. A series of meetings with local leaders in Hyderabad is scheduled on May 7.
During the party’s recent Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting, which was chaired by AICC Telangana in-charge Manickam Tagore at Indira Bhavan, the leaders focused on strengthening the party at the grassroot level and exposing the TRS. Discussions on Gandhi’s visit to Telangana and public meeting in Warangal were also held during the meeting. Gandhi was urged to visit by Telangana Congress leaders during their recent visit to New Delhi.
Revanth, after chairing a series of meetings with the party leaders, said that the party would be taking up the farmers’ issue seriously, as they were facing massive losses owing to ‘erratic governance’. Speaking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan, he said that thousands of farmers had already committed suicide after formation of Telangana.
Taking credit for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s decision to procure paddy from farmers, Revanth demanded that the government clear the mess by offering compensation to farmers who faced losses due to state government’s delay in making the decision and those who were discouraged from cultivating paddy. “The farmers who faced losses due to delay in decision making should be paid `600 (per quintal) as bonus, while those who were discouraged from sowing should be given `15,000 per acre as compensation,” he said.