ECI likely to announce Telangana election schedule in Oct second week

As the elections approach closer, parties in the state have started working on a war footing. BJP, for instance, is preparing to field senior national leaders to gain an edge over its opponents

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to announce the schedule for the Telangana Assembly elections in the second week of October, according to a Deccan Chronicle (DC) report. The announcement is likely to be made after a review meeting conducted by a team of ECI officials in the first week of next month.

The last assembly elections in Telangana were notified on 6 October 2018, with polling taking place in the first week of December. According to the report, people familiar with the developments have said that ECI officials are expected to collect and analyse reports prepared by the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj and other senior officials before finalising the election dates for the state. The DC report also stated that the ECI had removed 1,035,935 duplicate entries from the state's electoral rolls using specialised software.

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Poll Preparations by Different Parties

As the election dates draw nearer, parties in the state have escalated their preparations. The BJP, for example, is planning to field senior national leaders to gain an edge over its rivals. Party officials have stated that the BJP will organise one large rally every day in October.

Prominent national figures such as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP President J P Nadda, and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are scheduled to campaign in the state to boost BJP's prospects in Telangana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also slated to address large public gatherings on 1 and 3 October, with the BJP said to be mobilising more than 200,000 people to attend these rallies.

Not to be outdone, the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is rolling out various welfare measures to woo voters. Recently, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao announced that 32 per cent of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) profits would be distributed as bonuses to coal workers.

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The Congress party is also making significant efforts, focusing on its six promises in the form of "guarantee cards." The Telangana unit of the Congress party is urging people to keep these cards so they can claim the promised benefits as soon as the Congress comes to power. Congress workers are actively distributing these "guarantee cards" in the run-up to the elections.