Khammam (Telangana): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the party’s blueprint for a “new dawn” in Telangana is ready and that 3.8 crore people of the state want change.

He also said that the Congress is proud of its collective leadership in Telangana.

The remarks came ahead of the party’s grand public meeting in the district where Rahul Gandhi will sound the poll bugle in the state.

Assembly elections in the state are slated in the next few months.

“3.8 Crore people of Telangana want change. Shri Rahul Gandhi’s #TelanganaJanaGarjana grand rally shall be voicing their shared aspirations, today,” Kharge said on Twitter.

“The Congress party is proud of the collective leadership of Telangana Congress. Our blueprint for a new dawn in Telangana is ready,” he also said.

“We are strongly committed to the development and progress of Telangana based on social justice and equity,” the Congress chief said.

Kharge also said that several senior leaders from other parties will join the Congress and strengthen the hands of the people.

Congress State Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s  ‘padayatra’ would also conclude at the rally.  “We congratulate CLP leader, Shri @BhattiCLP on the completion of our 1360 km long Padayatra, today at Khammam,” the Congress chief said Gandhi would felicitate Vikramarka, who began his foot march near Adilabad, covering 1,360 km in 108 days as on Saturday, party sources said. 

  At the meeting, former Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy would formally join the Congress.  Srinivas Reddy and ex-minister Jupally Krishna Rao recently announced their decision to join the party. The victory of the Congress in recent Karnataka elections has given a boost to the party unit in neighbouring Telangana.  Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A Revanth Reddy has said the party would end the BRS rule in state with the rally in Khammam. Reddy said the Congress would sound the bugle for elections with the Khammam rally and expressed confidence that the meeting would be attended by more people compared to the number of people who attended the public meet organised earlier by the ruling BRS.  

Aiming to win the Assembly polls scheduled to be held later this year in Telangana, the Congress is seeking to make today’s rally a grand success.  The party is also seeking to ward off the challenge from the BJP, which had won two assembly bypolls and came up with good performance in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.  The Congress has been the major opposition party in Telangana since the state’s formation in 2014.