Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Hindu
The Hindu
National
Special Correspondent

‘30 lakh members a birthday gift to Sonia’

TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy at the launch of the Congress membership drive in the Kondangal constituency on Thursday.

Telangana Congress launched its digital membership drive at a Dalit Basti in Kodangal constituency with an aim to enrol 30 lakh members marking the birthday of AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Malkajgiri MP A. Revanth Reddy said December 9 was the day when Sonia Gandhi announced granting statehood to Telangana against odds and braving political backlash just to keep the promise she had made to people of Telangana.

“Congress will achieve the target of enrolling 30 lakh members and gift it to Ms. Sonia Gandhi,” he said while launching the drive along with AICC leader Praveen Chakravarty and TPCC leaders H. Venugopal, Deepak John, Shiv Sena Reddy and Chamala Kiran Reddy among others.

Before launching the drive, Congress leaders paid rich tributes to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat and 12 others who were killed in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Mr. Reddy said Sonia Gandhi had decided to grant statehood for Telangana region to put an end to the era of discrimination and injustice and to enable Telangana youth to prosper on a par with others turning a 60-year old dream into a reality.

However, the TRS government had failed to fulfil the aspirations of common people and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had treated Telangana as his personal fiefdom making a mockery of the dream. Now it was the duty of Congress to ensure that Telangana was taken back from KCR’s family, he said.

The Congress chief said that every enrolled member would get a life insurance cover of ₹ 2 lakh as the party cared for its cadre and their families.

Mr. Revanth Reddy recalled the role played by Rajiv Gandhi in bringing the IT revolution and initiating the digital literacy programme. As a result, India was known as technology hub and this effort also resulted in top tech companies now being headed by Indians.

Earlier, Mr. Praveen Chaktravarty said the membership drive in Telangana was emerging a model in the country.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.