Hyderabad: TRS chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday lent further credence to speculations of early Assembly elections in state by asking the party leaders “to get ready for the battle which may begin anytime from now.”
His comments triggered further speculations among TRS leaders who now expect Mr Rao to make an announcement on the early elections at the September 2 public meeting and would go in for dissolution of the Assembly in the first week of September.
TRS sources said, “After getting clarity from the Prime Minister and the Election Commission during his Delhi trip, KCR will make an announcement on early elections.” Mr Rao deepened the suspense over early polls by not giving any clarity whether he intends to go for early polls or not while addressing the party MPs, MLAs and MLCs at Telangana Bhavan for nearly two hours, before leaving for New Delhi on a three-day visit.
Avoiding any direct reference to early polls Mr Rao said, “Leave it to me on when to make an announcement on the elections. They can be conducted anytime from now. So, be prepared for the battle. We are going to win majority of the seats and there is no doubt about it. All the surveys done by independent agencies revealed that we are going to win 100-plus seats out of 119 without any difficulty and retain the power comfortably.”
Mr Rao said barring 3 or 4 sitting MLAs, whose performance is not up to the mark, all others would be given tickets. “I will not do injustice even to these 3 or 4 MLAs. I will accommodate them in some other posts later,” he said. Mr Rao said that he would take the responsibility of ensuring the victory of all the TRS candidates. “This time, I will campaign for 50 days covering two constituencies each day before elections. Our poll plank will be development and welfare schemes,” Mr Rao added.
Rajya Sabha MP D. Srinivas, who has been staying away from party activities for a long time, attended the meeting called by Mr Rao but skipped the meeting convened by Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha to discuss the arrangements for September 2 meeting. Nizamabad TRS leaders led by Ms Kavitha had urged the party chief to dismiss Mr D. Srinivas for anti-party activities.
