Telangana Assembly dissolved; stage set for early polls

The Telangana state Cabinet on Thursday unanimously resolved to recommend dissolution of the four years and three-month-old Assembly, hoping for an early election along with four other states.

The Cabinet that met at the Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, around 1 pm took less than 10 minutes to vote in favour of the dissolution. The Cabinet had during an earlier meeting left the decision to Rao.

The chief minister immediately left for Raj Bhavan along with some of his Cabinet colleagues and handed over the resolution to Governor E S L Narasimhan. The governor asked Rao to continue as the caretaker chief minister.

In a communiqué issued by the Raj Bhavan soon after the chief minister met the governor, Narasimhan asked Rao and his council of ministers to continue in their positions as caretakers.

The Secretariat issued a notification dissolving the Assembly with immediate effect, saying the council of ministers of Telangana state continue as caretakers of the Government of Telangana.

Rao will be addressing a media conference at the Telangana Rashtra Samithi headquarters - Telangana Bhavan - to explain the reasons behind his decision.

The chief minister is expected to address a series of public meetings beginning Friday. The first such meeting will be at Husnabad. 

In all, Rao will address 100 such meetings in the next 50 days. Before embarking on the campaign, he will also offer prayers at the Konaipalli Venkateswara temple near Siddipet. Rao seeks the blessings of the deity before every election campaign. 

The Telangana unit of the BJP had sought the governor’s appointment, with reports stating that the party may urge him to recommend President’s Rule in the state, and not offer Rao the position of the caretaker chief minister. 

In a related development, Congress leader Anumula Revanth Reddy tendered resignation to his membership in the Assembly, ahead of the Cabinet decision to dissolve the Assembly. 

Reddy was elected from Kodangal on a Telugu Desam Party ticket. Later he joined the Congress. Reddy is the prime accused in the "vote for note" case that rocked the state in 2015.

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