Constructive and Positive — Rahul’s Yatra in Telangana leaves Congress energised

Congress MP from Wayanad walked 375 Kms in 13 days covering 19 Assembly and 7 Parliamentary constituencies

Constructive and positive – these two words resonate among the Telangana Congress workers as their leader Rahul Gandhi left the State and entered Maharashtra after walking for 375 Kms in 13 days — since he entered here from Karnataka in the early morning of October 23.

The walkathon was a morale booster for the Congress party as its tallest leader spent 13 days, mostly in the hinterlands of Telangana never touched by a leader of that stature. It also brought together the top leadership of the Congress directly in contact with the ground-level workers for over two weeks in about 20 Assembly segments and seven Parliamentary constituencies of the State.

“This is certainly constructive for a party that has been battered in two consecutive elections after delivering Telangana against all odds and further diminished by defections,” a senior leader of Medak district explained.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A. Revanth Reddy, CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Sangareddy MLA T. Jayaprakash Reddy, MLAs Seethakka and D. Sridhar Babu were seen walking together sending a positive message of togetherness and unity, which was missing before the Yatra. “Spending two weeks together is bound to plug some perceived gaps between the leaders and that is a positive sign to enthuse the cadre all set to take on the TRS,” opined Manickam Tagore, AICC incharge for Telangana, when asked for his reaction.

Though only a few districts were touched by Mr. Gandhi given the paucity of time the party ensured that the cadre from every district got an opportunity to meet him. “This is working wonders for the cadre and leaders of North Telangana districts, including Warangal,” opined Kommuri Pratap Reddy, former MLA from Cheriyal.

The political windfall of the Yatra is not clear but it has lots of positives for the party to take in Telangana which is likely to see a three-cornered contest in the next Assembly elections.

By raising relevant issues during the walkathon, Mr. Gandhi was connected to the people. Unlike earlier, he was not meeting just the politicians but ordinary citizens with whom the party had desired to establish contact. He was listening and people felt empowered that they had easy access to a leader of that stature and that he was actually listening to them. In a State where citizens seldom have access to the Chief Minister and politics flows from the top Mr. Gandhi’s politics from below is certain to leave a mark among the citizens and influencers.