<p>Congress has tweaked its route for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Telangana to include Hyderabad in the itinerary following a demand from the state unit, which felt that avoiding the state capital will not bring in political dividends in the poll-bound state.</p>.<p>Rahul Gandhi and the yatris will take a detour from Vikarabad and walk to Hyderabad on October 31 where the top Congress leader will visit the iconic Charminar, sources said.</p>.<p>With the programme for the yatra in Hyderabad is yet to be finalised, it is to be seen whether Rahul will also visit the adjacent Shri Bhagya Laxmi Mandir.</p>.<p>In Telangana, the yatra will be in two phases. On October 16, the yatra will enter Telangana for three days from Bellary and then re-enter Karnataka in Raichur. On October 23, the yatra will again enter Telangana and exit the state to enter Maharashtra on November 6.</p>.<p>Sources said the yatra went through big cities like Mysuru and Bellary in Karnataka but the initial itinerary did not have any city for Telangana. This led to the re-working of the route to include Hyderabad, they said.</p>.<p>Congress will target both the ruling TRS and BJP, which is trying to increase its footprint in the state, sources said. The BJP is indulging in communal politics as elsewhere and with the yatra’s stated objective is to promote unity, the saffron party will face the music, they said.</p>.<p>While TRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has made clear his intention to go national with an anti-Congress line, the Congress is not going to go easy on its opponent.</p>.<p>A visit to Hyderabad will also be a message to AIMIM and its chief Asaduddin Owaisi, which has been at loggerheads with the Congress.</p>.<p>“The state government under KCR is facing anti-incumbency. The government is involved in corruption. Then the BJP is playing the politics of division and communal polarisation. As a responsible national party, we will counter it and the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a strong platform to do so,” a senior leader said.</p>
<p>Congress has tweaked its route for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Telangana to include Hyderabad in the itinerary following a demand from the state unit, which felt that avoiding the state capital will not bring in political dividends in the poll-bound state.</p>.<p>Rahul Gandhi and the yatris will take a detour from Vikarabad and walk to Hyderabad on October 31 where the top Congress leader will visit the iconic Charminar, sources said.</p>.<p>With the programme for the yatra in Hyderabad is yet to be finalised, it is to be seen whether Rahul will also visit the adjacent Shri Bhagya Laxmi Mandir.</p>.<p>In Telangana, the yatra will be in two phases. On October 16, the yatra will enter Telangana for three days from Bellary and then re-enter Karnataka in Raichur. On October 23, the yatra will again enter Telangana and exit the state to enter Maharashtra on November 6.</p>.<p>Sources said the yatra went through big cities like Mysuru and Bellary in Karnataka but the initial itinerary did not have any city for Telangana. This led to the re-working of the route to include Hyderabad, they said.</p>.<p>Congress will target both the ruling TRS and BJP, which is trying to increase its footprint in the state, sources said. The BJP is indulging in communal politics as elsewhere and with the yatra’s stated objective is to promote unity, the saffron party will face the music, they said.</p>.<p>While TRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has made clear his intention to go national with an anti-Congress line, the Congress is not going to go easy on its opponent.</p>.<p>A visit to Hyderabad will also be a message to AIMIM and its chief Asaduddin Owaisi, which has been at loggerheads with the Congress.</p>.<p>“The state government under KCR is facing anti-incumbency. The government is involved in corruption. Then the BJP is playing the politics of division and communal polarisation. As a responsible national party, we will counter it and the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a strong platform to do so,” a senior leader said.</p>
