HYDERABAD: Congress leader A Revanth Reddy demanded that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi explain to the people why it wants early elections to the state Assembly though it holds people’s mandate to rule the state for five years. Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Reddy wondered why the TRS preferred early polls after 52 months of its rule and who would benefit if polls were held earlier.
He alleged that chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao knelt down before prime minister Narendra Modi seeking nod for early polls to the Assembly. “The Congress has 133 years of history and it is not scared of elections. If advanced, elections will be conducted as per the old electoral rolls. The new electoral rolls will be published on January 4, 2019. What is the need to go to polls with old electoral rolls? The chief minister never met Union ministers to seek implementation of the assurances given in the AP Reorganisation Act. But, he is saluting rulers in Delhi in the hope of seeking nod for early polls. KCR’s own surveys indicated that even KCR and KTR could not win if elections were held next year as per schedule. Hence their eagerness for early polls.”
Not sparing the BJP either, Revanth said the saffron party owed an explanation to the public why it was cooperating with the TRS on its demand for early election, deviating from its slogan of ‘one nation, one election’. If KCR went to polls now, he would meet the same fate as NTR did in 1989 and Chandrababu Naidu in 2004, he predicted. Holding elections separately to the Assembly and Lok Sabha would be a burden on the exchequer, he said.
Congress emergency meeting today
Wihe strong feelers from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on early polls to Assembly, the Congress is holding an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation on Tuesday. The brainstorming session of the meeting will start at 10.30 am at Gandhi Bhavan and all the top leaders including PCC incharge RC Khuntia, PCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, three incharge sectaries and others will attend. On Monday, key Congress leaders finalised the agenda.