New Delhi: After winning Karnataka, the Congress has set the ball rolling in neighbouring Telangana where assembly polls will be held later this year. The grand old party plans to hold a big event in Hyderabad on June 2 to mark the Telangana’s Formation Day, and will organise functions to celebrate the anniversary over the next fortnight.
According to AICC general secretary in charge of Telangana Manikrao Thakare, on June 2 the Congress will highlight the fact that Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 under the leadership of former party chief Sonia Gandhi, but the BRS government led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had neglected the state.
Sonia will visit Telangana in the first week of June to address a rally to mark the state’s formation anniversary and will launch the party’s poll campaign by taking on the BRS government. “We would have been very happy if Sonia Gandhi could attend the June 2 State Formation Day event. We had requested her, but she has prior appointments and will visit the state after June 5,” AICC in charge of Telangana Manikrao Thakare told ETV Bharat. “Sonia Gandhi as Congress president supported the movement for the creation of the state and took a political risk by backing the demand of the people,” said Thakare.
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In 2014, the Congress had hoped to reap political benefits from its decision in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, but performed badly in both the assembly and the national elections. The BRS (then TRS) won in Telangana while the TDP won in Andhra Pradesh. Since then, the Congress has nursed a grudge against the two regional parties. “The credit for the creation of the new state should have gone to Congress. The BRS promised a lot to the people, but has failed to deliver. The youth, who participated in the separate state movement, are jobless today and those who died have not been compensated,” said Thakare.
According to the AICC in charge, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra recently released a youth manifesto for the state under which the party is promising a government job to a dependent of the martyrs, a monthly Rs 25,000 stipend, withdrawal of cases against them, unemployment allowance of Rs 4,000 per month, setting up a Telangana Public Service Commission with transparency, an online registration system for jobless youth, employment and skill training centres, interest-free loan of Rs 10 lakhs, release Rs 4,000 crore for SC, ST, OBC and minority students, and a Youth Commission if the party comes to power.
“We will make Hyderabad a world-class city. The people know that Congress delivers on the poll promises. Our governments in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh have shown that,” said Thakare. “Over the coming weeks, the Karnataka government will fulfil its promises. There is bound to be an impact of Karnataka in Telangana as the two are neighbouring states. The people are watching everything. The youth are very agitated. The BRS government has not fulfilled any of its poll premises and is now worried as we are getting aggressive in Telangana,” he added.
