Telangana is headed for early polls with the Governor accepting the Chief Minister’s K Chandrasekhar Rao’s recommendation to dissolve the assembly. The term of the current Telugu Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government was till May 2019 and if elections were held as per schedule they would happen along Lok Sabha elections.
Governor ESL Narasimhan’s acceptance will push forward the elections from the middle of 2019 to the end of this year. Till then, Rao will stay on as the caretaker Chief Minister. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Rao announced candidates for 105 assembly constituencies.
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Rao had been hinting at such a step for weeks, but stopped short of making the announcement. Expectations rose on Sunday, when the party held a huge rally in Ranga Reddy district, but the Chief Minister merely said he has been empowered to take a decision.
According to reports quoting Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) workers, Rao, popularly known as KCR, is not in favour of simultaneous state and general elections. The two elections coincided during April-May in 2014, following which the TRS secured 63 of the 119 Assembly seats.
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KCR will formally launch the party’s election campaign with a public meeting at Husnabad in Siddipet district on Friday. Christened “Prajala Aasirwada Sabha”, this will be the first of 100 public meetings planned by TRS over the next 50 days.
There have been a series of meetings between the Chief Minister Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed by a vote for the government in the recent Rajya Sabha deputy chairman election.