HYDERABAD: TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday called a meeting of the TRS Legislature Party at Telangana Bhavan, the party's headquarters, on September 3, soon after the Cabinet meeting. All the party MPs, MLAs and MLCs were asked to attend the meeting without fail.
Earlier on Monday, the Chief Minister announced a Cabinet meeting on September 3 at Pragathi Bhavan at 2 pm.
Rao's sudden decision to hold the TRSLP meeting immediately after the Cabinet meeting and asking even MLCs and MPs to attend the meeting triggered speculation in TRS circles that the Chief Minister wants to gear up party leaders for early Assembly polls. The invitation to MPs to attend the meeting was an addition to the speculation.
Although the media statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) stated that ‘the meeting would discuss various development programmes being implemented in the state, newly sanctioned Aasara pensions, podu lands to the tribes and other issues’, it failed to douse the speculations.
In the last eight years since the TRS came to power in 2014 in Telangana, the Chief Minister never held a meeting with MLAs, MLCs and MPs at a time to discuss welfare schemes, development programmes and other issues, although such meetings were held couple of times to discuss and devise agitation programmes against BJP-led government at the Centre over paddy procurement issue.
There is a heated debate in TRS circles that the Chief Minister will throw some light on the possibility of dissolving the Legislative Assembly and going for early polls along with Karnataka Assembly polls scheduled for May 2023.
The Telangana polls are scheduled for December 2023, but there are speculations in the TRS circles that the Chief Minister may dissolve the Assembly to force early polls as he did in September 2018, when he dissolved the Assembly nine months in advance, paving the way for early polls in December 2018 against the original schedule of May 2018.
There is also a buzz in party circles that the Chief Minister may issue a stern warning to party MLAs, MLCs and MPs to 'perform or perish' in the backdrop of reports over surveys being conducted by political strategist Prashant Kishor's I-PAC teams giving 'negative reports' on more than half of sitting MLAs and reportedly recommending dropping them if the party wants to retain power for the third term and score a hat-trick win in 2023 Assembly polls.
Incidents of dissidence and group rivalry between MLAs, MLCs and ministers coming out in the open in several districts are also causing huge embarrassment to party leadership. The Chief Minister is likely to warn warring factions to fall in line or should be ready to face the consequences.
Interestingly, the Chief Minister is leaving for Bihar on Wednesday, the festival day of Vinayaka Chavithi, to meet his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar to discuss national politics and convening Cabinet meeting and TRSLP meeting after his return from Bihar further added fuel to speculations on political moves of the Chief Minister.
