Telangana CM hints at early polls

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said he was ready to go for early elections and dared the opposition to face the same.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 15, said the elections may be advanced.

Rao said the leaders of his party and even people were ready for early elections. He exuded confidence that TRS will win over 100 seats in 119-member state assembly.

Elections to Telangana assembly are scheduled in April-May next year along with Lok Sabha polls but ever since the TRS chief's meeting, there have been reports of the polls being advanced.

Modi is understood to have hinted that simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana could be conducted by November-December.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, held meetings with TRS leaders during last few days to discuss the possibility of early elections and to review the preparedness of the party.

On Sunday, KCR formally admitted former minister Danam Nagender into the TRS. Nagender, who quit the Congress two days ago, joined the ruling party along with his followers.

Speaking on the occasion, KCR said all surveys show that TRS will win the next elections as the party was striving to achieve the goal of golden Telangana.

He slammed the opposition parties for criticizing the government. Alleging the opposition parties were unable to digest the number of welfare and development schemes launched by the TRS government during last four years, he challenged them to face the early elections.

--IANS

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