TRS, BJP set to step on gas on poll preparations in Telangana

The ruling TRS and the BJP will be stepping on the gas from Wednesday to gear up their cadres for the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.

K T Rama Rao, TRS Working President and son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, is embarking on a state-wide tour, chairing constituency-wise meetings in 16 of the total of 17 Lok Sabha segments in the State.

In the remaining one constituency -- Hyderabad --, the TRS has said it would back AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

The meetings would be held till March 17. Rama Rao would take a break from March 10 to 12.

Brimming with confidence after the thumping victory in the December 7 2018 Assembly elections, TRS said at least 15,000 people -- party workers, activists, leaders and elected representatives -- would attend each of the meetings.

"Rama Rao would review the party's poll preparedness, interact with the attendees and share his thoughts on the strategy to be adopted", a TRS leader said.

Also on Wednesday, the BJP President Amit Shah is visiting the state.

Shah would attend a meeting at Nizamabad and review the poll preparedness of the party, which is going it alone in the Lok Sabha elections in Telangan, due by May.

The BJP has divided the 17 constituencies in Telangana into four clusters.

BJP leaders, office-bearers from Nizamabad cluster -- Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zaheerabad and Medak segments -- besides those who contested last year's Assembly elections would participate, the party said.

Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav is in charge of the "Nizamabad cluster", party sources said.

In the assembly election, the BJP won a mere one seat in the 119-member House and the party's candidates forfeited their deposits in more than 100 segments.