Congress, BJP Too Claim Readiness For Early Elections

The Congress and the BJP both accepted on Monday the challenge posed by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to face early elections to the Telangana Legislative Assembly.

Addressing a press conference after an extended TPCC meeting at Gandhi Bhavan, Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said that it was strange that the Chief Minister was challenging the opposition parties to early polls through the media. Instead, KCR could have directly met the Governor today itself seeking dissolution of the Assembly and fresh elections, he said.

Stating that the Congress was fully prepared to face elections whenever they were held, he said that the people of Telangana would be liberated from the misrule of TRS a few months earlier if KCR indeed came through.

Reddy also expressed regret over former minister Danam Nagender leaving the Congress. However, he said that it was more regretful that Nagender read out from a script given by the TRS alleging that the BCs were being neglected in the party. He said that the Congress was the only party that ensured social justice, and also that Nagender got umpteen opportunities and top positions, both in the party and in the government.

The TPCC chief alleged that KCR was claiming non-existent survey reports to mislead the people about who would win the next elections.

Telangana BJP president K Laxman too said that the party was ready to face the elections if they were advanced.

Laxman, who is on a fortnight-long Jana Chaitanya Yatra (a tour of the state), said this while talking to the media at Marriguda of Yacharam mandal.

KCR was trying to mislead the people and playing mind games saying that he had a survey that showed that the TRS would win 100 seats if elections were held, Laxman alleged, and asked why the former was encouraging leaders of other parties to join his party if he had so confidence that he would win the elections.

The TRS had utterly failed to fulfill any of its promises like providing one job to each family, constructing double bedroom houses, offering reservations etc, the BJP chief alleged. It was unfathomable that the party would win another term after that, he said.