Telangana Assembly Polls 2018: Here are the key issues gaining steam ahead of elections

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With just a month to go for its first independent polls, the political scene is brisk in Telangana — the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the opposition parties are all engaged in attacking each other.

TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has gone for early polls by dissolving the assembly on September 6 ahead of its term, has been targeting the proposed Congress-led alliance comprising Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), seeking to invoke the Telangana sentiment.

On the other hand, Congress is dubbing the performance of the TRS government “disastrous”. The party has been constantly attacking the state government over its policies and trying to woo voters ahead of the December 7 polls.

Though the war of words are mainly between the TRS and the Congress-led alliance (termed as Prajakutami), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also eyeing the state. The party is targeting both the TRS and the alliance on various grounds, in its effort to add one more state in its kitty.

Also read:  Rahul Gandhi promises farm loan waiver in Telangana, accuses Modi, KCR of making false promises

Besides these parties, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Asaduddin Owaisi, is also in the fray. The party, which had won seven seats out of 20 it contested on in the last assembly elections, is said to be all set to spread its political clout in the state.

As the election season has gained momentum, let's take a look at major poll issues raised by political parties:

Farmer distress

The economy of Telangana is mainly supported by agriculture, having overall 55.54 lakh farm holdings. This is divided into marginal, small, semi-medium, medium and large farm holdings, according to NITI Aayog data.

Though the state has two rivers – Godavari and Krishna – providing irrigation, the farmers are largely dependent on rain-fed water sources for crops.

Besides being a part of Telangana’s economy, the sector plays an important role in state politics.

Since the beginning of its regime, TRS stressed on farmers’ welfare with launching several beneficial schemes like Rythu Bandhu to give financial support to farmers, Mission Kakatiya to remove silt from irrigation tanks, among others.

In the run-up to the assembly polls, the party candidates are massively highlighting the schemes. It has further announced loan waiver of up to Rs 1 lakh to benefit 42 lakh farmers, besides enhancement on existing schemes to be included in its poll manifesto.

Also read | Here's why the battle gets tougher for KCR this time

On the other hand, the opposition is trying to take over the ruling party on farm distress. Attacking the government, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in a rally in the state, alleged that 4,500 farmers had committed suicides in Telangana in the past four years, as KCR “neglected their problems”.

BJP chief Amit Shah had also attacked TRS on farmers’ issue. “People have not forgotten how in Khammam farmers were handcuffed for demanding minimum support prices,” said Shah invoking farmers’ sentiments against the ruling party.

Land Acquisition

The TRS government has faced massive protest by opposition parties, including Congress and TDP members, on Land Acquisition Act.

The Congress has raising the issue against the government in poll campaigns. “In Telangana, the KCR government enacted its own land act seeking to forcibly acquire the land from farmers without paying proper compensation,” Rahul Gandhi had said in a rally in October.

Unemployment

Unemployment among the people of Telangana has become a major poll issue this time.

The government has been constantly attacked by opposition over lack of employment in the state.

To tackle the criticism, the TRS announced to include allowance for unemployed individuals of Rs 3,016 per month in its poll manifesto.

The party, however, drew opposition fire over the announcement. “Instead of filling up vacancies (in government offices), KCR is promising unemployment allowance; this looks ridiculous and insulting and cheating the unemployed youth,” CPI National General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy told news agency PTI.

The Congress has also promised to provide employment opportunities to every youth.

Anti-incumbency

While the TRS claims to be the most popular political party in the state, stating its policies launched in public interest since coming to power. However, it may face some hurdles in gaining support of people over issues that has sparked controversies during its tenure.

The other political parties is leaving no chance to highlight discrepancies of the ruling government in order to divert the voters from voting TRS.

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