Rahul Gandhi to attend finale of UDF Padayorukkam rally

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The finale of the 'Padayorukkam' rally undertaken by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala will be held at Central Stadium here on Thursday. AICC president-elect Rahul Gandhi will address it at 5 p.m. which will be attended by over one lakh people, said KPCC president M.M. Hassan here on Tuesday.  The conclusion of the month-long rally, which began from Kasargod on November 1, was planned to be held at Shanghumugham beach on December 1, but was postponed due to cyclone Ockhi.    Mr Rahul Gandhi, who will arrive at the airport at 11 a.m., will visit the cyclone-affected coastal areas of  Poonthura at 11.30 a.m. and Vizhinjam at 12 noon.  He will attend RSP leader Baby John's commemorative programme at Thycaud police grounds  3 p.m. 

Mr Hassan will preside over the concluding rally of 'Padayourukkam' which was organised to highlight the anti-people policies of the state and central governments.  Mr Chennithala  will deliver the keynote address. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, Muslim League state president Panakkad Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal, MPs M. P. Veerendra Kumar, P. K. Kunhalikutty. K. C. Venugopal and N. K. Premachandran and leaders of allies like Johnny Nellore, C. P. John and G. Devarajan will also attend the meeting. 

The KPCC will hold its leadership meeting at Indira Bhavan here on December 18. KPCC office-bearers, political affairs committee members, Parliamentary party leaders and DCC presidents will attend it.  The KPCC has also decided to organise a solidarity meeting  in support of Palestinians in  Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode on December 22 and 23 respectively. Mr Hassan lamented that American President Donald Trump's proclamation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was against  world peace.