Telangana: CM Rao plays ‘self-respect’ card at poll rally

Hyderabad, Oct 6: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday, October 5, tested the waters of popularity at a public rally in Wanaparthy district of the state. Addressing the gathering, Rao played the Telangana sub-nationalism card to ask the audience whether they would like to see the development of the state being handed over to either New Delhi or Amravati (the capital of the adjoining Andhra Pradesh). The audience said an emphatic "No" and cheerfully responded to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief's call for safeguarding the self-respect of the state which was carved out four years ago and his appeal to bring back the ruling party back to power in the upcoming election.

The Election Commission on Saturday, October 6, announced the schedule for election in Telangana along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. This will be the second election the new state will go after the one in 2014 which happened concurrently with the Lok Sabha election. This year's election is being held earlier since CM Rao dissolved the Assembly prematurely to renew his mandate.

The TRS got 63 out of 119 seats in the Assembly in the 2014 election while the Indian National Congress got 21. The Telugu Desam Party finished third with 15 seats while the AIMIM got seven and BJP five seats.

Addressing the crowd at Nagaram village on the outskirts of Wanaparthy, Rao warned that a vote for the Congress and TDP would mean surrendering the future of 'hard-earned' Telangana back to New Delhi and Amaravati.

Telangana will go to a single-phase election this year with the polling scheduled on December 7. The results will be out on December 11.

Rao also asked to observe the situation in Palamuru region during the rule of the Congress and TDP (when Andhra was united) for over six decades. He asked the people to compare the situation under the four years of the TRS's rule. "You need not go by my words and instead, discuss among yourself using your intellect before casting your vote," Telangana Today quoted Rao as saying at the rally.