Gloves are off in Telangana as elections loom

With Telangana thrown into election gear following the State government’s decision to recommend early dissolution of the Assembly, the ruling Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) and the opposition Congress were quick to draw their swords and indulge in a war of words.

Caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) said he was confident of romping home in the polls, and challenged the Opposition to “go the people”. State Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy termed the elections a battle between the “corrupt KCR family” and “the people of Telangana”.

Asked why he called early elections, KCR said he did not want the “wheel of growth to be halted” and the State to go into inefficient and corrupt hands. The sacrifices of the poor and students should not go in vain, the high growth rate and all-round development that the TRS government has made possible should be sustained, he argued.

All-out attack on Congress

In Telangana’s maiden State elections in 2014, the TRS rode on the plank of ‘oppressive Andhraites’, while this time around it has chosen to target the Congress. KCR squarely blamed the Congress for the State’s backwardness. He also did not spare Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi for their opposition to the formation of a separate Telangana State, and termed Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, a “political buffoon”.

“The whole country has seen in the open assembly (Lok Sabha) how he went to Mr Narendra Modi and hugged him....the way he was winking,” KCR told a press conference after the Cabinet decision.

The TRS chief said Rahul had “inherited the legacy of the Delhi Sultanate”. “The people of Telangana don’t want to become ghulam s (slaves) of Delhi but want self respect. The Congress has to rush to Delhi for every small thing and have to wait for hours,” he said.

On campaign trail

At the media briefing, KCR surprised everyone by unveiling the TRS’ first list of 105 candidates for election to the 119-member State Assembly. There will be no tie-ups — except a friendly understanding with the MIM — and the TRS will sweep the polls with over 100 seats, KCR said.

The TRS supremo will kick off TRS’ poll campaign on Friday at Husnabad in Karimnagar district. “I am going to address 100 meetings in the next 50 days,” he said. A 15-member manifesto committee headed by K Keshava Rao has been set up, he informed.

KCR laid to rest doubts of early polls being stymied by the Election Commission. He quoted talks with the EC to state that the election process would begin in October and polls would be conducted in November. “Results are likely in December,” he said.

Coming down heavily on the critics of his projects on irrigation, drinking water, free power and measures for farmers, KCR said they were either ill-informed or pure ignorant. The Chief Minister claimed that his government had cleaned the corruption and mess created by the Congress, achieved record growth of 17.7 per cent, bagged 40 awards and ruled without a single charge of corruption.

Congress returns fire

In New Delhi, Uttam Kumar Reddy, fresh out of a meeting with the party brass, lashed out at KCR. He said that in the last four-and-a-half years, the State had seen the biggest loot in India under KCR. The family collected 6 per cent commission on all projects, he charged.

Reddy urged the voters to teach KCR a lesson and drive the TRS out of power. It should be “KCR family versus the people of TS”, he said. Reddy sought to know if KCR and the EC were in some ‘match fixing’. It is clear from KCR’s statements that he had spoken to the EC days before dissolving the Assembly, he alleged. The Congress leader termed the government’s claims of achievements as a bagful of lies and tall claims. In Hyderabad, Revanth Reddy, who recently joined the party from the TDP also took potshots at KCR’s “misrule” and accused the Chief Minister of falling short on his promises to Dalits and the poor.

The BJP also came down heavily on the KCR and the TRS, and said the party would face the music at the hustings. The TDP on the other hand is cautious, with rumours doing the round that an understanding with the Congress is on the cards.

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