Reading the political tea leaves: Why K Chandrashekar Rao wants early polls in Telangana

Telangana Chief Minister and Telugu Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday stopped short of announcing the dissolution of the state assembly during a mega rally in Ranga Reddy district.

In his around one-hour-long speech, Rao instead said that the public again wanted TRS government in the state and sought their support to continue the welfare and developmental works being undertaken by it.

Rao also said that the people should not become "slaves to Delhi-based parties".

"Just like in Tamil Nadu, we should also make sure that power is vested in our hands for self-respect rather than Delhi leadership dictating our state... don't become slaves to Delhi parties," the chief minister added.

The mega rally, held at a 2,000-acre venue, was called the Pragathi Nivedhana Sabha. The public meeting witnessed participation of around one lakh farmers on 10,000 tractors and women in large numbers coming from all districts of the state. The rally also caused traffic snarls on roads leading to the venue, 25 km outside capital Hyderabad.

The rally followed a cabinet meeting in which crucial decisions are said to have been discussed.

When asked whether early dissolution of the assembly came up for discussion during the Cabinet meet, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari told reporters, "Shortly, another Cabinet meeting will be held where more decisions are to be taken."

An announcement regarding early election could still be made in the coming days, possibly on Thursday (September 6), as Rao is said to hold six as his lucky number.

Major announcements

While Rao stopped short of announcing plans to hold early assembly poll, he announced various schemes virtually across all sectors. Rao reportedly announced schemes worth Rs 60,000 crore.

Rao claimed that Telangana was the first state in the country where farmers were given 24-hour free power supply.

The state has also implemented the Rythu Bandhu (direct cash transfer) scheme under which farmers get a capital subsidy of Rs 8,000 per acre, per annum. Out of the Rs 12,000 crore allocated for the scheme, Rs 6,000 crore have already reached the farmers' bank accounts, reports suggest.

The cabinet also took decisions on some welfare measures, including increasing the salary of women workers under ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) programme.

The sops were announced days after media reports suggesting that Rao may announce dissolution of the assembly, paving the way for early assembly polls.

Reports had also suggested that the polls could be held along with the elections in five states — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan — at the end of this year.

The assembly poll in Telangana is currently scheduled to be held in April-May 2019, along with the general election.

On Friday, state IT minister and Rao's son KT Rama Rao had said that discussions had been held in the party regarding the advancement of the assembly polls, but no decision had been taken.

Why KCR may want early polls

Observers suggest that Rao is hoping to get a larger mandate in the state.

India’s newest state held its first assembly poll simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls in April-May 2014. In spite of having led the Telangana statehood movement, the TRS had managed to win the poll with a small margin, winning 63 seats in the 119-member assembly.

The Congress finished second with 21 seats, while N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) won 15 seats in the assembly. YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party (YSRC) had ended up winning three seats.

Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won seven and five seats respectively.

Rao could be hoping to win a bigger margin banking on the various welfare scheme his government has doled out in four years.

Fighting the assembly poll in late 2018 could also enable Rao to campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls freely.

The party’s performance in the 2014 general election was impressive. Out of the 17 parliamentary seats in the state, TRS had won 11 seats while the TDP-BJP alliance bagged just two. Congress and YSRC had managed to win two seats and one seat, respectively.

Observers also suggest that Rao has become conscious of being seen close to the ruling party at the Centre. Rao had held two consecutive meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. TRS had also backed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the recent Rajya Sabha deputy chairman’s election.

This, Rao may think, could dent his chances of emerging as a key player in national politics in 2019.

The 64-year-old chief minister has been among the key regional players calling for the formation a non-BJP, non-Congress ‘federal front’ for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

"If at all the elections are held early, it will help the TRS. We will win both the state as well as Lok Sabha polls convincingly. Holding early elections will give us ample room to find potential partners for 2019 polls," chief minister’s son KT Rama Rao told The Indian Express on Sunday.

“We believe the time has come to go back to the people and seek a mandate. We have 16 seats in Lok Sabha and we are confident we will win all, including Secunderabad. We want to play a decisive role in Delhi,” he added.

Sounding the poll bugle

Rao has said a committee headed by party's Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao would be formed soon to prepare the election manifesto with new schemes and programmes.

Earlier in August, Rao met PM Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, among others in Delhi.

According to a report by NDTV, BJP national president Amit Shah has also conveyed to his party leaders in the state that assembly polls in Telangana will be held by the end of this year and that they must gear up for it.

The opposition has also stepped up its attack against the chief minister. Alleging that TRS has failed to fulfil a single major election promise, Congress state unit president N Uttam Kumar Reddy has claimed that Rao is going for early elections as a "last-ditch attempt" to protect his party from the "rising Congress wave".

The Congress leader has also said that the public response to the recent visit by Congress president Rahul Gandhi to Hyderabad “had sent shock waves among TRS leaders”.