Rahul to visit Telangana on May 11-12 to meet farmers

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will visit Telangana on May 11-12 to meet the farmers of the state.

He will arrive in Hyderabad on May 11 and after a night halt, will leave for Adilabad district for a padyatra covering various villages in Nirmal constituency.

Mohammed Ali Shabbir, vice president of the party's Telangana unit told IANS on Tuesday that Rahul Gandhi will meet the families of farmers who committed suicide due to distress. He also interact with farmers in at least five villages to know their problems.

Party leaders expect 10,000 to 15,000 people will join Gandhi in the walkathon.

After day-long visit, Gandhi will return to Hyderabad and after stopping the night, will fly back to Delhi.

Shabbir clarified that Gandhi will have no engagement in Hyderabad.

Some party leaders had earlier stated that Gandhi will visit Osmania University to meet students who played a key role in the movement for separate Telangana state.

"Our leader has made it clear that during this visit he wants to focus only on farmers' issues and that a visit Osmania University may be included in his political tours in future," said Shabbir, who is also the leader of opposition in legislative council.

This will be Gandhi's first visit to Telangana after the formation of separate state. The party leaders hope that this will rejuvenate the party, which lost the last year's elections despite the UPA government led by it carving out the separate state.