Sonia Gandhi will unveil Rajiv Gandhi’s statue in Telangana on August 20

HYDERABAD: Congress Party Parliamentary leader Sonia Gandhi has, according to reliable sources, accepted the invitation extended by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to unveil the statue of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in front of the Telangana Secretariat on August 20, the birth anniversary of the late leader.

The sources said that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge is also likely to attend the ceremony. Incidentally, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is also scheduled to visit the state on the same day and he will be present at the unveiling ceremony before leaving for Warangal to address a public meeting.

Sonia and Kharge are likely to leave for Delhi after unveiling the statue while Rahul will proceed to Warangal. The Congress is organising the public meeting in Warangal to mark the completion of the `2 lakh crop loan waiver, which was a promise made by Rahul during the Assembly elections. The public meeting will convey to the farmers that the party stands by them and will honour its promises while working for their welfare and development.

The state unit of the party also wants to send a message across the country that such a massive loan waiver was successfully completed.

Welcomes Singhvi’s nomination

Welcoming his party’s decision to nominate Abhishek Manu Singhvi as its candidate in the bypoll for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that he won’t care about the Opposition’s “Delhi appointments” barb.