Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy met Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday evening and urged her to contest from Telangana in the ensuing Parliament elections.
Mr. Reddy, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, met Ms. Gandhi at her residence. In the discussions that followed the Chief Minister explained how Telangana wanted to express their gratitude sending her to Parliament from the State.
It is not known whether she agreed to the request or not, but the Chief Minister was hopeful that if not Ms. Gandhi at least someone from the Gandhi family would be fielded from Telangana. “This is the request from the entire Telangana community to Ms. Gandhi as they want to express their gratitude for her role in the creation of Telangana,” a senior leader said.
This is the first meeting of Mr. Reddy and Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka with Ms. Sonia after the Congress government assumed charge in Telangana.
Mr. Reddy also explained the road map of the implementation of six guarantees made to the people by Ms. Gandhi at a public meeting in Hyderabad right after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting before the elections. He apparently explained how the free travel for women in the RTC buses had become a huge hit with 14 crore tickets issued to women to travel free in just two months. Similarly, the Aarogyasri insurance scheme limit had been increased to ₹10 lakh from ₹5 lakh.
Sources said Ms. Gandhi was extremely happy with the way the Congress government had gained the confidence of the people. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister also explained the government’s intention to start the supply of gas cylinders at ₹500 and free power supply up to 200 units. The Government’s decision to take up Caste Census in Telangana was also explained.
Meet with Niti Aayog V-C
Mr. Reddy later met Niti Aayog Vice-Chairperson Suman Bery and urged him to help the release of the pending ₹1,800 crore central grant for Telangana. He also sought the vice-chairman’s help in getting funds and aid from the World Bank for the Musi River Front Project.
Earlier, Mr. Revanth Reddy and Mr. Vikramarka participated in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Ranchi expressing their support to Rahul Gandhi.
