Khammam Geared Up for Rahul Meet as Bhatti Winds Up Yatra

HYDERABAD: Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will on Sunday bring down the curtain on his Haath Se Haath Jodo padayatra in Khammam, where Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting around 5 pm.

In the course of his 109-day yatra, Bhatti Vikramarka walked 1,360 km, passing through 750 villages, covering 36 Assembly constituencies and traversing 17 districts, since the start from Pipri village of Adilabad on March 16.

Sources said that the meeting venue in Khammam would be spread over an area of 100 acres and Congress leaders are expected to mobilise five lakh people for the meeting.

Upon his entry into Khammam on Saturday, Bhatti Vikramarka was accorded a grand welcome by performing troupes amid the din of cracker-bursting, a day ahead of the conclusion of the ‘People’s March’.

Khammam town was a vision in Congress leaders’ faces, with cut-outs and posters of Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Bhatti, among others, adorning every nook and cranny.

Arrangements were also in full swing for the public meeting by the president of the Khammam town unit, Mohd Javed.

The meeting will mark the entry of former BRS MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, a Khammam native, into the Congress, in a move that is expected to boost the party’s prospects for 10 Assembly seats in the region.

Sources said that the meeting will end speculation on Srinivas Reddy’s future course of action, as he was also sought after by the BJP. However, he was swayed towards the Congress based on extensive surveys held with former BRS counterpart from Mahbubnagar, Jupally Krishna Rao.

Rahul Gandhi will arrive at Gannavaram (Vijayawada) at 3.30 pm by a special flight and reach Khammam by helicopter to address the meeting at 5 pm. He will then leave Khammam by road to Gannavaram, from where he will board a flight to New Delhi.

Throughout the yatra, Bhatti has spoken on a wide range of issues like podu lands of tribals, the Dharani land portal issue and alleged manipulation of records by BRS leaders. The Congress also credited Bhatti’s yatra for forcing K. Chandrashekar Rao to take up the distribution of pattas to tribals. The party also attributes the yatra for fostering togetherness and minimising internal squabbles.

Bhatti Vikramarka repeatedly flayed the BRS over the “dictatorial attitude of CM KCR” during his yatra, attributing the same for forcing him to embark on the march to create public awareness. Braving summer heat, and poor health on two occasions, Bhatti determinedly achieved his goal.