Comments
Political activity peaked in Hyderabad as the counting of votes began today to decide the fate of the TRS Government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao and the 119-member Telangana Assembly to which elections were held on December 7.
The capital saw hectic action with the Praja Front (PF) leaders meeting State Governor, ESL Narasimhan while the AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi having a luncheon meeting with K Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister and President of the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS).
Though most exit polls predicted a clear victory for the ruling TRS, the political moves here point to an emerging scenario of possibilities. Will it be a hung verdict in the 119-member Assembly? Will the TRS and Praja Front end up in a situation where they need the support of independents, AIMIM or BJP to cobble up a government?
Giving credence to these developments were the moves made by the political parties, The PF leaders — Uttam Kumar Reddy (Congress), Kodandaram (TJS), L Ramana (TDP) Madhu Yaski Goud and others called on the Governor and discussed the political scenario.
They urged the Governor that the PF should be considered one entity and be called to form the government in case they secure the highest number of seats. The PF comprises the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party, the CPI and TJS. They expressed confidence that the combination will secure absolute majority. They asked for protection to the winning candidates where necessary, as a precautionary measure.
However, reports of the Congress making efforts to reach out to about 8-10 independent candidates, who are tipped to win the elections, ran rife in the capital. The Party’s Telangana Affairs in-charge Kunthia has arrived and also Shiv Kumar of Karnataka Congress who played a major part in the formation of the Congress supported Janata Dal(S), HD Kumaraswamy government is said to be active to play his role in case of a similar situation arising in Telangana.
The AIMIM Chief Asaddudin Owaisi had met KCR at the Pragathi Bhavan. An ally of the TRS, the AIMIM leader told newspersons, “TRS will form the government and KCR will be CM. The MIM is supporting it in national interests”.
The excitement in the political landscape has arisen on two major counts. First was the high percentage of voting-73.5 per cent registered in the State, against 68.5 per cent in 2014, which is being interpreted differently. Second was the predicted performance of the MIM, BJP and rebels, who are tipped to get 7-8; 3-8 and 8-10 seats respectively. Their role could become critical.
Facing lot of criticism on the large number of missing voters ( 20-30 lakhs), safety of the places where the EVMs have been kept and polling process, the Chief Electoral Officer, Rajat Kumar tried to ally such fears at a news conference this evening.
He said, the electoral lists were prepared, checked and cross checked as per the guidelines of the Election Commission and the Court directions. Similarly, all arrangements have been made to ensure the counting process, which will start from 8 am is undertaken smoothly.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.