Rahul’s Telangana tour packed with smaller meetings

​Hyderabad: For the Congress, small is big. It is doing away with major public meetings and on the contrary, it is preferring to hold smaller congregations that too of a particular class of people to send them a crisp and effective message on why they should choose the Congress in the next elections in 2019. 

All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi's visit to Hyderabad on August 13 and 14, is packed with such meetings in tune with the new strategy. The two-day programme of Rahul Gandhi comprises a meeting with women in Rajendernagar constituency, settlers in Serilingampally, interactions with editors of all print and electronic media of Hyderabad and interactive session with 150 most prominent industrialists of Telangana. 

Separate meetings with students of Osmania University and Muslim community leaders are also scheduled. However, these meetings are not decided at random. They were finalised after a lot of planning and in-depth analysis of their possible impact on those sections. According to sources, nearly 10,000 members of women SHGs from across Telangana State would participate in the meeting at Shamshabad. 

Rahul Gandhi is likely to give a comparative picture of how previous Congress governments empowered women SHGs and how they are being neglected under TRS regime. He is also likely to unveil party's plans for empowerment of women SHGs. They include revival of Abhay Hashtam Pension, Rs 1 lakh grant to all women SHGs, arranging Rs 10 lakh bank loan to each SHG with State Government bearing the interest burden, regularisation of services of nearly 4,200 contract staff working for Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), increase in salaries of Beemi Mitra and Village Organisation Assistants (VOAs) to Rs 7,500 per month, etc., Congress is also promising to build offices for women SHGs in all gram panchayats in Telangana.

About 52 lakh women are associated with nearly 4.5 lakh SHGs in rural areas while 15 lakh women are members of 1.5 lakh SHGs in urban areas. Through this meeting, Rahul Gandhi is likely to address the concerns of nearly 70 lakh women in the Telangana State.

Similarly, in the public meeting at Serilingampally, Rahul Gandhi is likely to give an assurance that the next Congress government would take care of their safety and security. The settlers will also be given an assurance of being placement in prominent positions in next Congress government. The Congress party is also planning to field prominent settlers as MP and MLA candidates in Greater Hyderabad.

In the meeting with business leaders, industrialists and small traders, Rahul Gandhi might speak about the negative impact of demonetisation, GST and other disastrous economic policies of Modi government. He will also speak about closure of industries and loss of lakhs of jobs under BJP-TRS regimes. 

He will assure of very investment friendly atmosphere in Telangana if Congress party is voted to power in next elections. Rahul Gandhi will speak on rising unemployment under BJP-TRS rule and difficulties being faced by students and their families due to wrong policies of present regimes. 

Likewise, the Congress president, in his meeting with Muslim community leaders, will highlight the fact that voting for TRS will be like for BJP. The Congress party has been describing Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao as an agent of Prime Minister Narender Modi and therefore, Rahul Gandhi will make it clear only Congress had the strength to defeat BJP at the national level, sources said.