TRS claims it will win 17 plus 4 in bypolls

Hyderabad, May 10 (UNI) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President and former Union Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao today claimed that his party would win 17 out of the 18 Assembly constituencies and four Lok Sabha seats in the bypoll scheduled to be held in Andhra Pradesh on May 29.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Rao said the surveys conducted by two reputed agencies, including the Delhi-based 'Today's Chanakya', recently disclosed that the TRS candidates would win 17 seats, including the Khairatabad seat, with a thumping majority.

The bypoll was necessitated in 16 Assembly and four Lok Sabha seats after the TRS MLAs and MPs resigned from their memberships, demanding the Centre declare the formation of a separate Telangana state. The Khairatabad and Terlam seats fell vacant after the sudden demise of senior Congress leader and MLA P Janardhan Reddy and TDP MLA T Jayaprakash, respectively.

Alleging that the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidates were campaigning in the election with the slogan 'Jai Telangana Jai TDP', without the party's consent, he said it was 'sheer political opportunism' by TDP President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to gain political benefits in the byelections.

Coming down heavily on the ruling Congress for 'betraying' the Telangana people in the name of development, Mr Rao said the Congress government cheated Telangana by not sanctioning the IIT centre at Basara in Adilabad district, even after the state cabinet adopted a resolution unanimously.

Claiming that the Telangana people would teach a lesson to the TDP and Congress in the byelection by defeating their candidates, the TRS Chief said contract labourers, Vidya volunteers, farmers and weavers should not vote for the TDP and the Congress.

Alleging that Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and the Centre stopped the flow of funds to the International Peace Foundation, headed by K A Paul, from other countries, Mr Rao demanded that the government release a white paper on the reason behind the stoppage of funds to the organisation.

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