CM's intention is to advance assembly polls:Telangana BJP unit

The BJP's Telangana unit today claimed that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's intention is to advance assembly polls due next year but the party does not think it is a possibility.

There has been a buzz in political circles on whether the TRS government is exploring the possibility of early assembly elections.

Elections are due in Telangana in April-May next year along with the Lok Sabha polls.

It "looks very clear by the signs and moves" that Rao is making that his intention is to advance assembly elections. However, BJP does not think it (advancing assembly elections) is a possibility," Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao told PTI.

Rao said the Chief Minister's presumption is that the TRS would return to power if the assembly elections are held earlier and not simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls.

"He (the CM) wants to catch the opposition unprepared and also to ensure the full focus is on assembly elections, instead of both assembly and Lok Sabha elections," he said.

"And he is also worried about the impact the good governance of Narendra Modiji would have on general elections which might also have effect on the assembly election outcome," the BJP leader said.

However, it might not be technically possible even if the chief minister dissolves the assembly now to have elections along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram because the Election Commission has already made necessary arrangements for these four states, he said.

"Now, they (the EC) will not be in a position to accommodate any other state," he said.

Also, updated record of the electoral list in Telangana would be ready only in the first week of January.

"Even if he (the CM) dissolves (the Assembly), polls can only be held along with general elections," he said.

Advancing polls in Telangana would also "beat" the "national agenda" of simultaneous elections. The chief minister had also backed the idea of simultaneous polls, Rao said.