Focus On KCR's Announcement At Pragathi Nivedana Sabha

Will he or will he not? This is the million dollar question for all sections of people in Telangana, and especially those belonging to political parties, as Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao prepares to address his much-hyped Pragathi Nivedana Sabha where he is expected to clear the suspense about whether he will go in for early elections in Telangana.

All eyes are thus focussed on the public meeting, billed to be the largest ever rally in the country with 25 lakh people expected to participate in it, and to be held on a sprawling 1,600-acre ground at Kongarakalan near Ibrahimpatnam on the outskirts of the city. KCR and his cabinet colleagues, as also party MPs, MLAs and other leaders, have left no stone unturned to ensure a resounding success for the meeting which is a show of strength of the pink brigade.

The venue of the meeting has turned into a virtual mini pink township with hoardings, cut-outs, banners and flags of the TRS adorning the entire area. Even the roads leading to the venue from various points and also from the GHMC limits have turned pink with the ruling party's flags and buntings.

Though all arrangements for the meeting have been put in place meticulously, tension seems to have gripped the TRS leaders and cadre as KCR is expected to make an announcement not only concerning early polls but also regarding the nominations of party candidates. The pulse rates of the sitting members, especially those who had defected to the TRS from other parties, as also those of scores of aspirants for party tickets, began to shoot up after the Chief Minister had gotten prepared appraisal reports about their performances in their respective Assembly segments. This exercise was intended to basically identify the winning horses amongst the sitting members, and has understandably made just about every one insecure.

Against this backdrop Sunday's public meeting is gripping attention and assuming great political importance. Also, the reported meeting of the state cabinet hours before the commencement of the Pragathi Nivedana Sabha has further heightened speculations about early elections (a cabinet decision is imperative for recommending to the Governor the dissolution of the Assembly, which has to be done before September 10 for polls to take place in Telangana in December along with those in four other states). Is the Chief Minister planning to seeking the cabinet's approval for dissolving the Assembly so that he can make an announcement at the rally tomorrow?

It also needs to be noted that dissolution of the Assembly alone is not enough for advancing the elections. There are many technical and legal issues to be resolved in accordance with the Election Commission norms. A brief Assembly session also needs to be convened before the Assembly is dissolved. Given that the deadline for recommending the dissolution of the Assembly is September 10, if KCR is keen on advancing the elections in the state, all the above mentioned formalities have to be completed at breakneck speed.

Given all of these, the Pragathi Nivedana Sabha has assumed a high degree of importance and interest among all sections of the people, since KCR will announce his decision on early polls in the meeting.