Rahul Gandhi Returns to Telangana for Another Padayatra, Evoking Old Memories

Adilabad: Old memories still linger in the minds of many, as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi returns to the region for another Padayatra. He would participate in the Vijayabheri Bus Yatra and Padayatra on Oct 18, which would act as the launch-pad for the party’s assembly election campaign in Telangana.

The Congress leader, who recently did a Bharat Jodo Yatra through states, had drawn huge crowds during the travel through interior dusty villages as also cities.  This apart, Rahul Gandhi did a padayatra for 15 km as part of Kisan Sandesh Yatra through remote villages in Nirmal district during the hot summer, in temperatures of 40-43 degrees Celsius, on May 15, 2015.

At that time, braving the hot summer, Rahul Gandhi had met family members of the farmers who committed suicide due to crop failure and mounting debts in the far-flung villages of Mamada and Laxmanchanda in Nirmal constituency.

Couple Macharla Padma and Gangadhar of Vadyal village in Laxmanchanda then experienced the happiest day of their lives. Rahul Gandhi all of a sudden walked into their home. He spent 20 minutes with the family during the Kisan Sandesh Yatra there and then went on to address a public meeting in the town. “He behaved as if he was one among our family,” Padma recollected.

Padma served tea twice, as also a decoction, to Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh and other leaders at her home. Rahul also had taken rice with curd and dal for his lunch, which was arranged by the local Congress leaders.

The home of Padma and Gangadhar was adjacent to the public ground where Rahul Gandhi later addressed the meeting.

Padma reminisced, “After preparing tea for Rahul Gandhi and others twice, there was no more milk left in the house. So, he readily agreed to have a decoction.”

“Rahul Gandhi also had a quick bath with the soap she offered him, and took a nap on their bed for some time. He also sat and discussed matters with the other Congress leaders,” she said.

“I was rolling beedis. Rahul Gandhi came in abruptly. I stood up in surprise. Rahul put me at ease and asked me to roll a beedi for him to see how this was being done,” she said.

Rahul Gandhi asked her about her work. She told him that she earned '145 for making 1,000 beedis a day. “I and my family posed for a photograph with Rahul before he left our home. We will remember this experience all our life. We were transported to a new world, as if in a dream,” she said while recounting her once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Notably, Rahul Gandhi was keen on ensuring the education for children of the bereaved families and left word with the local leaders to help these families by all means.

During a visit, Sonia Gandhi moved through interior tribal area Narnoor and consoled the families of the Adivasis who died of seasonal diseases. Nearly 2,000 Adivasis had died in 1998, many of them due to drinking of contaminated water in Adilabad district.  

Rahul Gandhi told the tribal leaders who met him in Delhi after the Kisan Sandesh Yatra, “The visit of Adilabad refreshed my memories attached to my grandmother Indira Gandhi. As a gift, she had presented me a book that had pictures of tribals, their culture, rituals and traditions. She used to explain to me the tribals traditions when I was 15 years old.”

Rahul Gandhi had added that he still preserved those books as memories.