M Somasekhar In a bold but calculated move, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Thursday dissolved the Legislative Assembly and sought early elections, about eight months ahead of the end of his Government’s five-year tenure.

The elections will be held as early as November-end and the new government will be in place in December, said KCR, citing discussions with Election Commission officials.

He cited two major reasons to justify the decision. One, the pace of development, especially in irrigation, power and welfare measures, should not be impacted by a prolonged campaign. Two, the “fragility and unlimited idiocy” in the political sphere has to be removed to ensure stronger governance, he said.

“It’s me and my party that is sacrificing five-six months of rule,” said KCR, who also heads the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

‘History of sacrifice’

“We have a history of sacrifice from the Telangana movement and it’s all for the good of the people. In contrast, the Congress has only worked against the separate State and was always corrupt, with little development to show.”

The Legislative Assembly of Telangana, the nation’s youngest State, has 119 seats. In the 2014 election, the TRS bagged 63 seats while the Congress got 22, the TDP-BJP bagged 20 and MIM, seven. KCR was sworn in on June 2.

After 55 months in office and defections by several MLAs, the TRS’ strength has grown to 90 seats, while the Opposition’s has been reduced drastically.

The Congress has 13 seats, while the TDP, which broke its alliance with the BJP, has three.

In a way, KCR is emboldened by his reading of a weak Opposition, which is in disarray. The TRS leader is also banking on his welfare schemes and claimed achievements to win the mandate a second time.

At the same time, the Chief Minister wants to fight on local issues and tap political realities in the State, such as his party’s friendly ties with the MIM, rather than address larger issues that might have come into play had Telangana gone to the polls next year along with the Lok Sabha election.

Congress’ State unit chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said the party is ready for the polls.

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