HYDERABAD: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s directive to the state BJP leaders to be prepared to face the Assembly elections, whenever they are held, has set the cat among the pigeons. However, the ruling TRS leaders ruled out the possibility of TRS going in for early polls.
During their meeting with Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday, the state BJP leaders informed the Union Home Minister that TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao may go in for early elections to the Assembly as he did in 2018.
According to BJP vice-president DK Aruna, the saffron party has information that KCR would advance the elections and it conveyed the same to Shah when they met him in Delhi.
The state BJP leaders informed Shah that after defeat in the Huzurabad Assembly bypoll, Rao lost his balance and also faith in the people that they would vote for him, going forward. This was the reason why he was raking up unnecessary issues and blaming the Central government, they said.
Reacting to this, Shah directed the BJP leaders to be prepared to face the elections, whenever they are held and asked them to be in the midst of people and expose the failures of the TRS government.
Speaking to reporters in the national capital, Aruna said that the Union Home Minister wanted the BJP cadre to be battle-ready for the next Assembly elections.
She, however, said that only Rao could say whether he would go for early polls or not. “Chandrasekhar Rao is in an agitated mood,” she said.
It’s a BJP drama, says Jagadish
Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy, who is in Delhi, indirectly dismissed the reports of TRS advancing the elections.
“When we are demanding the BJP government to procure 20 lakh tonnes of extra rice over and above the target of 40 lakh tonnes, the BJP brought the election issue to the fore. BJP is enacting an election drama. This (polls) is not an issue now,” he said.
In October this year, KCR ruled out the possibility of early polls. Ending the speculation that the TRS might prefer early elections, Rao had said that “a lot of work had to be done to the state over the next two years and wanted to utilise the entire term for serving the people”.