HYDERABAD: It was a triple action Thursday for the TRS government, that seems to have set the ball rolling to ensure that Assembly polls are held early in the State. While party supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called on the Governor, his son and IT Minister KT Rama Rao made a sudden visit to Delhi, after which the State government’s advisor called on the Election Commissioner -- all within a matter of 24 hours.
Rao called on Governor ESL Narasimhan on Thursday and discussed the political situation in the State and summoning of the Assembly session. The move comes a day after Cabinet Ministers authorised the Chief Minister to take a decision on early polls. Meanwhile, State government’s chief advisor and former chief secretary Rajiv Sharma, a confidant of the Chief Minister, met Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa to discuss conducting elections in Telangana along with four other States that are due to go to polls in December -- Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.
However, even before the chief advisor’s meeting, IT Minister KT Rama Rao is said to have met some ‘key’ people in the national capital. Speculations are rife that Rama Rao has been given some important clues on the political developments in Delhi. It was after this that Rajiv Sharma held his meeting with the Election Commissioner. After all these developments, the Chief Minister on Thursday night made a sudden decision to leave for Delhi on Friday for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to official communication from the CMO, “Rao will stay a couple of days in Delhi and request the Prime Minister to personally take initiatives to resolve the State’s pending issues.” Friday will be the third meeting between Rao and Modi within just two months. The Chief Minister is scheduled to meet his party MPs and MLAs at the Telangana Bhavan, regarding early polls, before leaving for Delhi.
According to sources, TRS government is likely to convene an Assembly session before September 27 and then recommend for its dissolution to pave way for early elections. Meanwhile, Rajiv Sharma also called on Attorney General KK Venugopal to follow up the State’s new Zonal Bill which is awaiting President’s assent. Once, the Zonal bill is cleared the State government may announce some job notifications, ahead of the polls.
Arrangements Begin For Huge Meet On September 2
Arrangements for TRS’ massive public meeting at Kongara Kalan began on Thursday. TRS is organising ‘Pragathi Nivedana Sabha’ (progress report meeting), on September 2 in which Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will present the four-year report card of his government and kickstart the poll campaign. The TRS has set an ambitious target of mobilising 25 lakh people to attend the meeting that will be held on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister (Revenue) Mohammad Mahmood Ali, Ministers P Mahender Reddy (Transport) and N Narasimha Reddy (Home) and Mayor Bonthu Rammohan and other leaders performed Bhumi puja for the meeting that will be held on September 2 in a sprawling venue at Kongara Kalan.