Telangana Congress insures 40 lakh workers, hands over premium to New India Assurance

Congress has started an insurance program for around 40 lakh workers in Telangana to give the message that they are one big family. Tagore said the workers will get a cover of Rs 2 lakh, writes Amit Agnihotri.

Hyderabad: In a first for a national party, the Congress has started an insurance program for around 40 lakh workers in Telangana to give the message that they are one big family. A group of senior leaders led by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Telangana Manickam Tagore handed over the premium to the New India Assurance in the presence of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

Tagore said, “To protect the 40 lakh family members of Telangana and to stand with the Congress workers, we started the insurance program. We are in opposition in Telangana and our state/ district/ Mandal leaders contributed in making it happen." Noting that Rahul treats the party workers as his family, Tagore said the workers will get a cover of Rs 2 lakh.

The state unit chief Anumula Revanth Reddy, who had been flagging the UPA’s pro-farmer policies to target the state government, said the premium cheque for the newly enrolled members was handed over to the insurance company and the target was achieved with the cooperation of all.

Earlier, Congress played a key role in the bifurcation of the southern state in 2014 when the party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power at the centre. Ironically, the party lost the first and second assembly elections to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which had spearheaded the movement to carve out the state from Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress under Manickam Tagore and state unit chief Anumula Revanth Reddy has been trying hard over the years to make its presence felt in the state. Recently, Rahul Gandhi had flagged the problems in paddy procurement saying the TRS government was not giving them a fair price.

Targeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of the state Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, Tagore said, “KCR do not play with farmers of Telangana. Congress will stand with them till Modi and KCR procure paddy."

Besides Tagore and Reddy, former state unit chief Uttam Reddy, former MP Mohammad Azharuddin and Dr Geeta Reddy, among others met Gandhi.