Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has called a meeting of his cabinet on Sunday, just two hours before his rally in Hyderabad, amid speculations that he may press for early elections.
Though the term of the Telangana assembly expires with that of the Lok Sabha in May 2019, there are strong rumours that Rao is keen on advancing the assembly elections to November or December to tie in with the polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram.
The ruling TRS on Friday said discussions had been held in the party on advancement of polls, but no decision had been taken yet. “Discussions are happening on many issues. There was also discussion on early elections. But ultimately as I said no decision has been taken on that. We will let you know when we take the decision," Telangana minister for IT and industries KT Rama Rao told PTI.
When his attention was drawn to remarks by Congress leaders on early polls, he said the TRS is always prepared to face elections and seek the people's mandate.
“Typically the party in power will not lose or give away the time they can govern. Nobody wants to relinquish. Vice versa, the opposition will be desperate and want to unseat the incumbent government as soon as possible.
“But in Telangana it seems to be the complete opposite. Here TRS says we are ready for an election. Opposition seems to be asking questions like why do you want to go for elections so quickly, why not in April? It’s funny in a way,” he said.
The TRS government looks formidable on the ground and KCR is still the most popular and powerful leader in the state. The creator of Telangana, KCR rode to power in 2014 on his popularity. The chief minister has also tried to endear himself to the masses through various pro-people schemes in the last 50 months.
However, all is not well in the state. A shrewd politician, KCR has sensed that even with all the pro-people work and deft handling of political crises, the voters may change their mind at the last minute and he wants to surprise them by advancing the elections.
Second, the BJP is reportedly keen on a pre-poll alliance with KCR for the Lok Sabha polls and he is not in a position to turn down their request. KCR is aware of the problems he is likely to face if he goes to both assembly and Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP. And he thinks that safeguarding his state's interests by advancing the assembly polls is the best possible option before him.
According to political analysts in Hyderabad, KCR is trying to play safe by planning to advance the elections even if the alliance fares badly in the Lok Sabha polls, at least his base will be safe in the state.
With this in mind, the TRS has planned the September 2 rally on the outskirts of the capital. KT Rama Rao said the event would be massive and raise the political heat in the state, as well as the country. He claimed that the party has 46 lakh workers and even if half of them turn up, it would be a huge gathering.
The TRS has booked 7,300 State Road Transport Corporation buses to ferry people to the venue from different parts of the state for the event where KCR is expected to announce some key decisions.
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