A day after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dared the Opposition to face Assembly elections this year, several months before it is due in 2019, the Congress said it was ready for the challenge.

In a quick reaction on Monday, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President, Uttam Kumar Reddy, said KCR, as the Chief Minister and TRS supremo is known, should immediately resign. “Earlier, too, we had stated our readiness [for elections] and will humble the ruling party”.

The Congress claimed it was well-prepared, that the TRS was in for a drubbing as KCR had failed on all fronts and that the people were disappointed with his tall promises. The AICC Secretary in-charge of the Telangana affairs, Ramachandra Kuntia said there would be no change in the party leadership, and that Uttam Kumar Reddy would lead the Congress in the upcoming elections.

The TPCC had a detailed meeting to take stock of political developments. Among the attendees were Jana Reddy, Mallu Ravi, Bhatti Vikramarka, DK Aruna, V Hanumantha Rao, Sabitha Indra Reddy, et al. The party had recently organised a ‘Bus Yatra’ to to the districts to highlight what they termed the misrule and failures of the KCR government.

On Sunday evening, KCR challenged the opposition comprising the Congress, BJP and TDP, to face snap polls, although elections are scheduled for April-May 2019, when the Lok Sabha polls are also due. The Chief Minister claimed he had discussed advancing the elections during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, in early June.

KCR had, while admitting senior Congress leader Danam Nagender and his followers into the TRS, made scathing remarks against the Opposition. The Chief Minister asserted that the TRS would win over 100 seats in the 110-member Assembly, quoting a couple of recent surveys.

Nagender, who lost in 2014 on a Congress ticket, was earlier with the Telugu Desam Party. A leader of the Backward Classes, he has a strong following in Hyderabad, but was one of the leaders who opposed the Telangana statehood agitation. His entry will buttress the TRS in urban areas. In Hyderabad’s old city area, the TRS already has friendly relations with the strong MIM.

At the event, KCR had exuded confidence that his government’s flagship Mission Kakatiya (irrigation) and Mission Bhagiratha (drinking water) schemes, and the progress of the mammoth Kaleshwaram (irrigation) project will bring about significant change to rural Telangana.

Similarly, the Rythu Bandhu scheme, and the wide range of welfare measures will help achieve a Bangaru (golden) Telangana, he felt.

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