During his tour of Telangana, Rahul Gandhi is also expected to visit Nizam Sugar Factory in Bodhan and interact with turmeric and sugarcane farmers at Armoor.

Telangana Election News: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday kickstarted the grand-old party’s election campaign in poll-bound Telangana with a massive bus yatra.

Christened the “Vijayabheri Yatra”, the grand roadshow kicked off from the historic Ramappa Temple in Telangana’s Mulugu after the Gandhi siblings arrived in a special flight and landed at the Begumpet airport at around 3:30 PM.

The brother-sister duo then left for the Ramappa temple in a helicopter and kicked off the “Vijayabheri Yatra” to signal the Congress’ poll campaign in BRS-ruled Telangana which goes to polls on November 30 this year.

UNESCO has conferred the World Heritage inscription to the historic Rudreswara Temple, also known as the Ramappa Temple, at Palampet in Mulugu district. The Rudreswara temple was constructed in 1213 AD during the reign of the Kakatiya empire by Recharla Rudra, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva. The presiding deity here is Ramalingeswara Swamy.

Visuals shared the Congress on its social media handles showed a sea of party workers and supporters marching on foot while Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi are riding an standing atop on specially-prepared platform on top of an open truck with other local leaders of the Congress.

LIVE: Vijayabheri Yatra | Mulugu, Telangana https://t.co/ENPnJ6wd8H

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 18, 2023

Lakhs of people hit the streets of Mulugu, Telangana for Vijaybheri Yatra of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

Look at the enthusiasm in common people and congress workers. pic.twitter.com/ucLNxiIHQp

— Anshuman Sail Nehru (@AnshumanSail) October 18, 2023

The Gandhis are scheduled to address a rally and also interact with women in the district later in the day. Rahul and Priyanka were briefed about the Ramappa temple (recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage site) by the temple authorities.

LIVE: Shri @RahulGandhi & Smt. @priyankagandhi address a public rally in Mulugu, Telangana. https://t.co/JOPbFwtZzY

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 18, 2023

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi is set to return to New Delhi after the rally, Rahul would continue to attend events in the state, reports said, citing Congress sources.

Danasari Anasuya, popularly known as Seethakka, Congress MLA from Mulugu told news agency PTI that Rahul Gandhi will stay in Bhupalpally tonight.

“They will reach Ramappa temple at 4.30 pm and around 5 PM they will address a public meeting. Afterwards there will be a bus yatra up to Bhupalpally (about 30 km),” she said.

According to Congress sources, the 3-day yatra from October 18 will cover eight constituencies.

Rahul Gandhi will meet with workers of the state-run mining firm Singareni Collieries and attend public meetings at Peddapalli and Karimnagar (night halt ) on October 19.

On October 20, he will take part in a meeting of farmers at Jagtial and attend programmes at other places, including Armoor and Nizamabad.

During his tour of Telangana, Rahul Gandhi is also expected to visit Nizam Sugar Factory in Bodhan and interact with turmeric and sugarcane farmers at Armoor.

(With PTI inputs)