New Delhi: As Telangana heads for early polls, Congress gears up to approach the court and Election Commission to get the assembly elections postponed till a revised voters' list is published. Senior Congress leader M Shashidhar Reddy told Hindustan Times that if CM K Chandrashekar Rao — popularly known as KCR – dissolved the assembly, his party would request the Election Commission (EC) to delay the Telangana polls till January next year. "We will request the EC not to club the Telangana polls with the elections to four states in December and delay them so that time is available for us to ensure voters’ lists are not doctored," he said, adding that if their requests are not met, they will take the "legal route" and move the court. Legislative Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls next year. However, it is being speculated that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government may opt for early polls on the presumption that there is a positive mood among people on the government. The HT report said that KCR could dissolve the assembly by mid-September and call fresh polls in November-December, along with state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. All eyes are now on the state cabinet meeting in Hyderabad as a decision on early polls could take place on Sunday afternoon. There is no official word it yet. State IT and Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao had said on Friday that discussions had been held in the party on advancement of the assembly polls, but no decision has been taken so far. The ruling TRS termed Reddy's comments as Congress's 'nervousness'. "They (Congress) are worried and not ready to face the people. So, what will happen if they go to court? If not November-December, elections will be held in January or February but within six months as per the SC order in an earlier matter," said Vinod Kumar Boianapalli, TRS leader. "In any case, assembly elections can’t be stretched beyond March," he added. Rao, who addressed mediapersons more than a fortnight ago, did not give a direct reply on reports of early assembly election, but said the Election Commission has the discretion to conduct it within six months of the original schedule. He said various surveys by the party indicated that TRS would win about 100 seats (out of 119) in the assembly polls. The speculation has also gained ground with transfers of officials, including IAS officers, during the last several days.<doc-sep>"Do you want to be slaves of Delhi? Just like Tamil Nadu does not act enslaved to Delhi, similarly in Telangana too, we will rule ourselves with self-respect, without bowing to Delhi parties," said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has been pitching for a non-Congress-non-BJP Federal Front for months. The Chief Minister said the state cabinet met earlier on Sunday afternoon and authorised him to take a decision soon "in the interest of Telangana, the TRS and the people". "I will take a decision soon (on assembly dissolution) and then announce what I will do if TRS is elected again," he said. Mr Rao has been seen to be on the backfoot after a perception that he has entered a secret understanding with the BJP. This was fuelled by two consecutive meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed by a vote for the government in the recent elections for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman's post. Last weekend, the Chief Minister also went to Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and others, triggering speculation that he had gone to push for early elections. BJP president Amit Shah is also said to have conveyed to his party leaders in Telangana that elections to the state will be held by the year-end and they must gear up for it. The term of the TRS government is till May 2019, and elections, as per schedule, should happen along with Lok Sabha elections. Reacting to the Chief Minister's dig at the Congress, state Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said it was KCR and the TRS that acted like "gulams (slaves)" to PM Modi and the BJP. Senior Congress leader Hanumantha Rao said the meeting was more like a big party thrown for the TRS cadre as busloads of people were seen being served liquor and handed cash. The mammoth rally at the 2,000-acre venue dubbed Pragathi Nivedhana Sabha at Ranga Reddy district, billed as the mother of all meetings, saw people -- including around one lakh farmers on 10,000 tractors and women in big numbers -- mobilised from all districts. For hours, the road leading to the venue, 25 km out of Hyderabad, was choc-a-bloc. The Chief Minister has made major announcements for virtually every sector including the Rythu Bandhu or direct cash transfer scheme for farmers. Under this scheme farmers will get Rs. 4000 per acre per season. Of the Rs. 12,000 crore allocated for this scheme, Rs. 6000 crore has already reached the farmers' bank accounts. The Chief Minister claimed Telangana is the "No 1 state in country for the last four years in financial growth" and this was made possible because of his "commitment towards progress".<doc-sep>Telangana polls: K Chandrasekhar Rao to remain care-taker Chief Minister HYDERABAD: The Telangana Cabinet on Thursday recommended dissolution of the state assembly months before the end of its term, a move driven by the TRS's hope that chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's charisma and a fragmented opposition will help the party retain power.Shortly after his big political gambit which was seen as a bid to avoid a " KCR vs Modi" campaign in any simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls, Rao announced candidates of the ruling TRS for 105 of the 119 assembly seats and launched a blistering attack on the Congress, calling the party Telangana's "enemy number 1" and its president Rahul Gandhi the "biggest buffoon" in the country. At the same time, the TRS chief completely avoided criticising the BJP.Ending weeks of intense speculation, Rao chaired a meeting of the state cabinet, which adopted the resolution urging governor E S L Narasimhan to dissolve the House.The governor accepted the recommendation and dissolved the Assembly soon afterwards and asked Rao, who headed the state's first government from June 2014, to continue as caretaker chief minister. "The governor, while accepting the recommendation of the chief minister and Council of Ministers has requested K Chandrashekar Rao and his Council of Ministers to continue in office as a caretaker government. Chandrasekhar Rao has agreed to this request," a Raj Bhavan press communique said.The Congress and some other opposition parties cried foul over the development, calling it the result of a "dubious pact" between Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Speculation was rife over the last few weeks about the likelihood of Rao going for an early election as he did not want national issues raised during the next year's Lok Sabha polls to overshadow local factors, which the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) feels, are in its favour.In normal circumstances, the assembly election in the state would have coincided with the Lok Sabha polls likely April-May next year.Narasimhan is expected to send a report to the Centre on the developments and formally communicate the Telangana government's decision to the Election Commission.The final call on whether to conduct an early election rests with the Election Commission, which has six months till March to hold the polls.A union home ministry official said in New Delhi it is up to the poll panel to decide whether it wants elections in Telangana to take place with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram in November-December. "Today, it's KCR versus nobody. Six months later, it would have become a KCR versus (Narendra) Modi campaign," TRS veteran K Kesava Rao, a party MP told a TV channel, indicating that the decision to go for a snap poll was also aimed at delinking the assembly and Lok Sabha elections to avoid a personalised campaign, with the local issues taking a back seat.With the opposition hardly presenting the picture of a cohesive bloc, the TRS currently sits pretty in the state in whose creation Rao played a pivotal role.Sources in the ruling party said Rao wanted to cash in on what he believes was a "positive atmosphere" in favour of his government. "Everybody knows Rahul Gandhi. He is the biggest buffoon in the country . Whole country has seen in the open assembly (Lok Sabha) how he went to Mr Narendra Modi and hugged him....the way he was winking," Rao told a press conference after the cabinet decision.Rao said his ties with Modi were "purely government to government, constitutional and not personal". "The number one villain and biggest enemy of Telangana is Congress. It was Jawaharlal Nehru who merged the then Telangana region with other Telugu-speaking regions against the wishs of Telangana and it was Indira Gandhi who crushed the separate statehood agitation during her regime," he said.Rao, TRS sources said, felt popular programmes launched by his government including the Bhagirathi Drinking Water Scheme, Kalyana Lakshmi/Shaadi Mubarak schemes for one-time assistance to economically weak families of girls of marriageable age, and Rythu Bandhu investment support scheme for farmers will help it reap a rich electoral harvest.The TRS boss also appeared not wanting to give enough elbow room to the Congress, a formidable force in undivided Andhra Pradesh, and the neighbouring state's ruling TDP to come together and put up a united fight against his party. The two parties had voted together during the recent no-trust vote against the Modi government and the vice presidential poll.Delaying the polls till Apri-May would have given the two parties more leeway to form an alliance the possibility of which still exists. However, the two parties will have to hasten the pace and remove the possible irritants in the way. "If simultaneous elections were to be held for Lok Sabha and the state assembly, it would have turned into a Rahul Gandhi versus Modi fight in states like Telangana and benefited the Congress," chief spokesperson of the Telangana unit of the Congress Sravan Dasoju told PTI.The party-wise strength in the 120-member Telangana Legislative Assembly before its dissolution was TRS-82, Congress-17, AIMIM-7, BJP-5, TDP-3, Vacant-2, the CPI, CPI(M), indipendent and nominated member (one each).<doc-sep>Rao: Confident of winning 100 seats, will return as CM Telangana assembly: K Chandrasekhar Rao likely to recommend dissolution HYDERABAD: As expected, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday recommended the dissolution of the assembly eight months before its term ends, paving the way for early elections in the state which may now be held in November-December, along with four other states.Though for the record, Rao gave “political fragility” in the state and the “unlimited idiocy of Congress” as the two reasons for advancing the polls, insiders in the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi said the move was aimed at keeping the focus on the CM’s position as the “architect” of Telangana. They said facing the assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha polls would have seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the opposition Congress muscling in on Rao’s home turf and turning the attention away from the TRS chief.Rao called a meeting of the cabinet in the afternoon where the resolution to dissolve the assembly was passed unanimously. He then drove to the Raj Bhavan and communicated the decision to governor E S L Narasimhan. A Raj Bhavan communique said the governor, while accepting the cabinet’s recommendation, has asked Rao to continue as caretaker CM.TOI had reported in its edition on September 6 that Rao was all set to recommend dissolution on Thursday (September 6) as he considers number 6 lucky for him.The CM said he had already consulted the Election Commission on advancing the elections and expressed confidence that Telangana would go to polls in November-December, along with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. “We have done our spadework,” Rao said.Rao, who is also president of TRS, took the opposition by surprise by announcing tickets for 105 of the 119 seats soon after recommending the dissolution of the House. He said he would return as CM after the polls as TRS was certain to win 100 seats. He described AIMIM as a friendly party.Holding Congress responsible for his decision to advance polls, Rao said at a press conference: “Because of the day in and day out criticism by Congress, there is a chance of development being affected. It is in the interest of the state that I have chosen to make a sacrifice of the remainder of our term.” He added that the elections will “teach a lesson to Congress”.He said his powers as caretaker CM will not be curtailed. “There is no such term as caretaker CM in the Constitution, but I will not cross limitations,” he said. In the same breath, he said in his capacity as TRS president, he will announce the manifesto of the party for which there will be no restrictions.There was speculation about KCR calling for early polls right from August 14 when he announced that TRS would organise a huge public meeting on September 2 and that he would also announce the list of TRS candidates for the next polls. After this, a number of IAS, IPS and other officers were transferred, which pointed to the possibility of the elections being advanced.<doc-sep>
Hyderabad: Amid speculations of Telanagana Chief Minister dissolving the Assembly to call for early elections, KCR called for the state to put up a united front to defeat Delhi-based political parties. Speaking at the mega rally on the outskirts of Hyderabad, KCR said, “Like Tamil Nadu, Telangana should also unite to oppose other Delhi-based parties.” “Some media channels are saying KCR will dissolve the government. All TRS members have given me the right to take a decision on the future of Telangana. I will tell you when I take that decision,” KCR said at the TRS rally. However, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief refrained from making any announcements on early elections or forming alliances with other political parties for the 2019 elections. Before the Konagara Kalan rally, that was delayed by several hours, the Telengana cabinet met on Sunday afternoon, giving way for further speculations on early state elections. "Shortly, another Cabinet meeting will be held where more decision are to be taken," was the cryptic reply by Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari when reporters asked him whether early dissolution of the Assembly came up for discussion. The cabinet meet chaired by K Chandrasekhar Rao here announced decisions on welfare measures, including increasing the salary of women workers under ASHA programme, Finance Minister Etela Rajender and Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao said. Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls next year. However, it is being speculated that the TRS government may opt for early polls on the presumption that there is a positive mood among people about the government. State Minister and Rao's son K T Rama Rao said on Friday that discussions had been held in the party on advancement of the Assembly polls, but no decision has yet been taken. In this backdrop, the cabinet meeting assumed significance, but the ministers indicated the issue was not on Sunday's agenda. Rather, the Chief Secretary announced that he has asked all government departments to submit their proposals to be placed before the Council of Ministers by September 4. This has further triggered rumours that there will be another Cabinet meeting on September 6, when KCR might finally announce early elections. The speculation about early assembly polls has also gained ground with transfers of officials, including IAS officers, during the last several days. The chief minister in a recent media interaction did not give a direct reply on reports of early assembly election, but had said the Election Commission has the discretion to conduct it within six months of the original schedule. He had also said various surveys by the party indicated that TRS would win about 100 seats in 119-member assembly in the polls. In other announcements, the government said the Cabinet has decided to construct "Atma Gourava Bhavan" (self-respect building) for the Backward Classes on a 75-acre site here at a cost of Rs 71 crore. It was also decided to enhance wages of ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers to Rs 7,500 per month from the current Rs 6,000 per month. Similarly, the honorarium paid to workers of 'Gopal Mithra' (friend of cowherd) programme aimed at cattle breeding through doorstep would be enhanced to Rs 8,500 per month from Rs 3,500 per month. Increasing the retirement age of temple priests to 65 years was among other decisions taken at the meeting, the ministers said.