All set for TRS Pragathi Nivedana Sabha

Political activity is all set to intensify in Telangana in the aftermath of Pragathi Nivedana Sabha, the massive public meeting to be addressed by TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at Kongara Kalan on Sunday. IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao predicted that the public meeting will leave a huge impact on not just the State but also national politics as all political parties might try to replicate the feat.

“Election heat came much in advance in the country ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed One Nation-One Election. But with this massive public meeting, the heat would intensify further. For people in the State, lot of announcements are likely to be made by the Chief Minister at the public meeting,” he said. 

In an informal interaction with the mediapersons ahead of Pragathi Nivedana Sabha at his camp office on Friday, the Minister admitted that the party had discussions over holding early elections but no decision was taken in this regard. “Just like any issue, there was discussion on early elections. But no decision was taken by the Chief Minister and we, as party leaders, follow his directions. If there were to be any announcement in this regard, the Chief Minister will take the decision as the TRS president,” he clarified.

Rubbishing the allegations of the Opposition parties, the Minister stated that people were making their own arrangements for travel and food to reach the venue. “We are only giving logistical support at the venue,” he asserted. He pointed out that there were more than 46 lakh registered activists for TRS and even if half of them turned out voluntarily, the public meeting will be a huge success. He wondered why the Opposition parties were obsessed with expenditure of a political public meeting though there were no such issues when they held a public meeting attended by Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Hyderabad recently.

Yet again, Rama Rao urged people to postpone their travel plans on Sunday unless it was an emergency as public transportation will be affected. “From the fleet of about 12,000 RTC buses, we have hired about 7,300 RTC buses for the public meeting and hence, public transportation is bound to be affected,” he said. He assured that the guidelines from the High Court will be followed in toto.

Elaborating on the arrangements, he said Kongara Kalan was chosen as the venue to avoid any inconvenience to people due to massive gathering. Of about 2,000 acres, 500 acres were earmarked for the main venue and the rest 1,500 acres in different pockets were allocated for designated parking. Though the main venue is closer to Exit 13 of Outer Ring Road (ORR), TRS was arranging temporary exits to provide easy access from ORR to the meeting venue after obtaining necessary permissions from the authorities concerned.

The Minister stated that necessary penal and service charges including toll charges were being paid to HMDA from TRS party fund. The TRS cadre laid about 16 news roads with separate lanes for VIP movement. “Traffic movement is being planned along the ORR such that no vehicle but those attending the public meeting are allowed on the ORR. All measures have been taken to ensure safety and security of those attending the meeting.

Logistics are being arranged at a large scale,” he said.

Farmers are attending the meeting on a massive scale. About 2,000 tractors carrying around 20,000 farmers have kickstarted their journey from Khammam on Friday. “We are expecting at least 1 lakh farmers in tractors by Saturday night and will be parked at designated locations. Our objective is to remind the initiatives of TRS governments in the last 51 months, to people of Telangana State who are our only bosses and also explain our future plans,” Rama Rao said. No tractors will be allowed on ORR on September 2. Medical camps were being arranged to attend to people in emergency cases. More than 500 toilets with separate provisions for women have been arranged.