Top guns blazing as campaigning peaks in Telangana

Campaigning in Telangana for the December 7 Assembly elections has reached a crescendo with top guns of major parties hitting the roads.

With less than a week to go for the electioneering to end, ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and opposition Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and others intensified their campaign.

Addressing rallies and conducting road shows, top leaders of the major parties were trying to woo the voters by highlighting the promises made in their respective party manifestos and targeting their rivals.

While Chief Minister and TRS president K. Chandrashekhar Rao was already on a whirlwind tour, addressing at least half-a-dozen rallies every day, the national leaders of Congress and BJP also plunged into the electioneering.

A day after their joint campaign, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday campaigned separately for the candidates of 'People's Front'.

While Rahul Gandhi addressed three public meetings at Bhupalapally, Armoor and Pargi, Naidu conducted road shows in Hyderabad. Standing atop his special bus, Naidu addressed the gatherings at five places in constituencies in and around the city.

Burying their 37-year-old rivalry, Congress and TDP have joined hands along with Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI) to form 'People's Front'.

Rahul Gandhi and Naidu shared the dais at their first election rally at Khammam on Wednesday. They later conducted road shows in Hyderabad.

Continuing his whirlwind tours across the state, Chandrashekhar Rao addressed public meetings in Adilabad district on Thursday. Targeting Congress, TDP and BJP, he urged people to give fresh mandate to TRS so that it can continue its good work to make Telangana a "golden state".

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressed BJP's election rallies in Nagarkurnool, Zaheerabad and Wanaparthy. BJP's general secretaries Ram Madhav and Muralidhar Rao also campaigned for the party on Thursday.

On his second leg of campaigning in Telangana, BJP president Amit Shah had addressed a public meeting in Adilabad on Wednesday and later conducted road show in Hyderabad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two election rallies of BJP at Nizamabad and Mahabubnagar on Tuesday.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati also addressed a few public meetings in the state during last two days. The BSP has fielded candidates in some constituencies.

The elections for 119-member Assembly are scheduled on December 7. TRS and BJP are contesting all seats on their own. Congress has fielded candidates in 94 constituencies, leaving 13 for TDP and the remaining for other allies.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) is contesting eight seats in Hyderabad but is backing TRS in other constituencies.

--IANS

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