Changes in Rahul tour disappoint Cong leaders

Cong V-P skips Hyderabad, to reach Nirmal via Nanded today

Hyderabad: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is on a visit to Telangana, dropped his plan to take motorcade from Hyderabad to Adilabad touching Medak district and if possible to address a wayside meeting at Gajwel, the constituency of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

The tour schedule of Rahul Gandhi had undergone several changes and the latest decision to skip Hyderabad has left all the city leaders disappointed. Anticipating Rahul’s visit, leaders like Danam Nagender and Anjankumar Yadav vied with each other in putting up huge hoardings and banners. The party leaders from Toopran in Medak district had erected huge cut-outs of Sonia, Rahul, TPCC president and the local leaders.

As Rahul was expected to pass through Toopran, Kamareddy, Dichpally, Mamdipally, Perkit, Balkonda before reaching Nirmal, party leaders even mobilised people for the wayside meetings. But at the eleventh hour Rahul’s itinerary was changed and quoting security reasons, it was decided that Rahul would reach Nanded by a special flight and would drive down to Nirmal.

Contrary to the TPCC claim that Rahul would be spending a night in a tribal village in Adilabad, he would be spending a night in Nirmal and take up Rythu Bharosa Padayatra on Friday morning. The AICC told the TPCC that they had decided to make the amendments to his schedule since the yatra was essentially meant to meet the families of farmers who had committed suicide in Adilabad.

This has dampened the spirits of the city leaders as they wanted to utilise the visit of Rahul Gandhi to create new enthusiasm among the rank and file of the party, particularly in view of the GHMC elections.