Newly elected Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge made it clear that Rahul Gandhi would be his party’s face for its campaign for Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Joining Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra at a party rally in Necklace Road Kharge took a dig at the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for crisscrossing the country to form an alternative to the BJP government and weakening the very party. He said:” If somebody is going to bring a non BJP government at the Centre then under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Congress, it will be us who are going to do it.”

Attacking the TRS chief he said, “Today KCR is going to every state, meeting leaders, embracing them or putting a shawl around them. He went to Kolkata then to Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru… first sort your own backyard. You are weakening the very party which spread from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, is raring to fight”.

Kharge also gave a call to the Congress leaders and workers to join hands and give their best shot to bring a Congress government at the Centre. He recalled that it was Sonia Gandhi whose decision led to the formation of Telangana. Rahul Gandhi also took a dig at K Chandrasekhar Rao saying that the chief minister was in constant touch with the Prime Minister who gave him instructions. He reminded that TRS has supported every bill that has been passed by the Modi government including the three farmer’s bills.

“Your chief minister has direct connection with Modiji and he picks up the phone and on the other side there is Modiji who gives instructions to KCR, ‘do this and do that’,” he said. Earlier in the day Telangana minister KT Rama Rao took a dig at Gandhi after the latter said that TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao can fight elections in US and China if he wants BRS to go international.

“International leader Rahul Gandhi who can’t even win his own Parliament seat in Amethi ridicules Telangana CM KCRji’s national party ambitions. Wannabe PM should first convince his people to elect him as an MP,” wrote Rao on Twitter.

The Congress MP’s yatra through Hyderabad was full of political symbolism. Gandhi addressed the large gathering with the statue of Indira Gandhi on Necklace in the background. The new Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Rahul Gandhi also hoisted the national flag in front of Hyderabad’s iconic Charminar at the very spot from where his father Rajiv Gandhi had started his Sadbhavna Yatra on 19 October, 1990. He also offered floral tributes before the photograph of the former Prime Minister. The narrow lanes of Charminar were packed with people raising slogans and unfurling the national tricolour and the flags of Bharat Jodo Yatra as security personnel had a hard time keeping the crowds at bay.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi was joined in his yatra by Radhika Vemula, mother of Dalit student Rohith Vemula. She later took to Twitter to write: “Extended solidarity to Bharat Jodo walked with Rahul Gandhi and called upon Congress to save Constitution from BJP-RSS assault, Justice for Rohith Vemula, passing Rohith Act, increasing representation of Dalits, oppressed sections in higher judiciary, education for all.” Vemula, a 26-year-old Dalit student Yatra died on 17 January, 2016 which brought the spotlight on casteism existing in higher educational institutions.”