Oppn parties attack Telangana CM over early poll move

Opposition parties Thursday hit out at Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for the early elections move, charging him with indulging in "obfuscation politics" prompted by fears that TRS would be unable to return to power if polls were to be held next year.

The main opposition Congress said the Chief Minister owed an explanation to the people as to what necessitated him to cut short the Assembly tenure.

The State was formed after "so much of struggle and sacrifices," and people had so many hopes on development, farm issues and employment generation but those promises have not been fulfilled, the Chief spokesperson of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Sravan Dasoju told PTI.

Alleging a "dubious pact" pact between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rao, he claimed that if simultaneous polls were to be held for Lok Sabha and Telangana Assembly as scheduled next year, it would have turned into a Rahul Gandhi versus Modi fight in states like Telangana benefitting the Congress. Sravan said in the event of simultaneous elections, minorities would choose between BJP and Congress, and not TRS. "He (Rao) wants to manoeuvre the minority votes, that it won't come to Congress", he alleged.

Charging the Chief Minister with indulging in "obfuscation politics," the BJP said Rao has "full-scale fear" that he might not be able to come back to power if elections are held as per schedule next year.

Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao claimed that it may not be technically possible to schedule the Telangana elections with that of four other States where polls are due in November-December.

"I don't think voters who would want to vote for the certain party would actually change their mind because elections come three months or four months prior to regular schedule," he said.

"Once the voters make up their mind to vote for some party, they would stick to their decision, that's what we believe." In view of the "electoral pattern nationally," Rao said, the BJP certainly feels that it has an edge whenever polls are held and added that his party is ready for it.

The state unit expects BJP President Amit Shah and Modi to address public rallies as part of the election campaign, he said. The National General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said the Chief Minister is "getting afraid that he will get more isolated if elections are held next year. That's why he wants elections as early as possible". On the one hand, the Chief Minister is backing the idea of simultaneous elections in the country and on the other, "he wants elections right now. He (Rao) is telling opposition is not ready yet (for polls)," Reddy added.