Bhatti set to embark on 1,365-km padyatra

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka is set to embark on a 1,365-km-long padyatra from Adilabad to Khammam, covering 39 Assembly constituencies along the way.

The announcement was made by AICC secretary Rohit Chowdhary, CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, AICC Programme Implementation Committee chairman A Maheshwar Reddy, former MLC Prem Sagar and others at a press conference held at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, on Saturday.

The padayatra, a part of the ongoing 'Haath-Se-Haath Jodo' abhiyaan, will begin on March 16 in the Adilabad district and conclude on June 15 in Khammam.

Rohit Chowdhary said that the objective of the padayatra was to take the message of AICC leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra to every doorstep in Telangana. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre have approved the padayatra. During the padayatra, the Congress party plans to expose the failures of the BRS Govt and convey to the people of Telangana that Congress is the only alternative to BRS, he said. Bhatti Vikramarka said that the Congress party granted statehood to Telangana to fulfill the aspirations of the people of the state. However, he stated that those aspirations were crippled by the BRS government, which failed to achieve even a single target. The padayatra aims to convey to the people that only Congress can achieve the goals of Neelu, Nidhulu, Niyamakayalu (water, funds and jobs) for the people while restoring Telangana's Atma Gauravam (self-respect). These goals can only be achieved by bringing the Congress party to power in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Bhatti Vikramarka also accused the BJP Government of destroying the systems established by the previous governments in the country. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was looting the country's wealth for his crony capitalist friends. The padayatra will take the message given by Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to every doorstep, which is a continuation of Hath-Se-Hath Jodo Abhiyaan.

AICC Programme Implementation Committee chairman A Maheshwar Reddy said that his Telangana Poru Yatra, which started from Bhainsa in the joint Adilabad district on March 3, will merge with the padayatra being continued by CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka.

Former PCC president and Nalgonda MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, ex-Deputy CM Damodar Raja Narasimha, AICC secretary and MLA D Sridhar Babu, MLC T Jeevan Reddy and other senior leaders will participate in the padayatra.

Former MLC Prem Sagar said that elaborate arrangements are being made to ensure the success of the padayatra in North Telangana. It will end the wrong assumptions that Congress is weak in North Telangana. The padayatra will cover Boath, Khanapur, Asifabad, Bellampally, Chennur, and Mancherial constituencies.