Hyderabad
The Congress manifesto for the Telangana State Assembly elections, termed as People’s manifesto, will be formally released by the UPA Chairperson and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi at an election rally at Medchal here on Friday.

The manifesto that would contain issues agreed upon by all the alliance partners under the grand alliance promises several incentives to benefit farmers and women, besides promising one lakh jobs in the first year itself.

The Congress is hoping that the rally to be addressed by Sonia Gandhi would prove to be a game changer as “it is Sonia Gandhi that acceded to the demand of a separate Telangana State in 2004 and is considered to be the Mother of Telangana”, Congress general secretary in-charge of Telangana affairs R C Khuntia said.

“She has not addressed any election rallies so far in the poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The fact that she has agreed to address a rally in Telangana itself shows how she is sentimentally attached to the state,” he added.

According to Congress sources, Sonia Gandhi, who will be accompanied her son and Congress president Rahul Gandhi at the Begumpet airport by a special flight at 5 pm, will travel to Medchal on the city outskirts by road to address the public meeting at 6 pm and fly back to Delhi by 8 pm.

Top Congress leaders, including Ahmed Patel, Veerappa Moily and Jairam Ramesh, besides Karnataka minister D K Shiva Kumar are in Hyderabad to oversee arrangements for the meeting at Medchal and to pacify the dissident Congress leaders who have been denied the party ticket.

It is expected that leaders from all four alliance partners of Maha Kutami that includes Telangana Jana Samithi , TDP and CPI will be seen on the dais with the Congress leaders. However, Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu will not attend the rally.