A large number of people assembled at Indravelli in Telangana's Adilabad district on Monday for the public meeting held by the opposition Congress to highlight the alleged injustice being meted out to Dalits and tribals in the state.
More than one lakh people participated in the 'Dalita Girijana Atma Gourava Dandora' public meeting, which is the first major show of strength by the Congress after A. Revanth Reddy took over as the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President.
Revanth Reddy along with other party leaders and a large number of party workers left for Indravelli in a procession from party headquarters Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad.
Before leaving for Indravelli, Revanth Reddy participated in a programme to mark the 79th anniversary of the 'Quit India Movement'.
The Congress leader hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for following fascist policies at the Centre and in Telangana.
He said the hike in fuel prices by the Modi government has overburdened the common man.
The aspirations with which Telangana was formed had not been fulfilled due to the wrong policies of K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress leader added.
Revanth Reddy said injustice was done to Dalits, tribals, backward classes, minorities and other weaker sections during the last seven years. He claimed that only the Congress can ensure justice to all sections of society.
A large number of people from various parts of Adilabad and other districts reached Indravelli. The meeting began at 2 p.m. and will continue till late evening.
Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka, All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary Madhu Yashki Goud, former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and other leaders attended the meeting organised on the occasion of World Tribal Day or International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
The Congress also plans to organise similar meetings across all 17 parliamentary constituencies in the state.
The Congress has come under criticism from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for organising the meeting which reminded it that it was during Congress rule that scores of tribals were killed in police firing at Indravelli on April 20, 1981.
TRS leaders and some Adivasi groups have demanded that the Congress should first apologise to the tribals for the police firing.
Responding to the demands of the TRS, TPCC Vice-President Mallu Ravi said the Congress was ready to apologise for the incident from the dais of the public meeting.
