Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday ruled out early polls in the state and issued a stern warning to his MLAs and party leaders against corruption in welfare schemes for the poor ahead of the Assembly elections slated to be held in December.
K Chandrasekhar Rao was addressing a meeting of MPs, MLAs and members of the BRS state executive.
During the meeting, he drew a roadmap for the party leaders for the polls and announced the political programmes that will be taken up in the coming months.
In 2018, Rao had dissolved the Assembly four months prior to the Lok Sabha elections and thereby outmaneuvered the Opposition completely. This way he could be able to neutralise the Modi wave of 2019 by holding the polls early.
According to Rao, a 125 feet tall statue of BR Ambedkar will be unveiled on 14 April and followed by a public meeting at the NTR stadium, primarily with the Dalits in attendance while the inauguration of the state Secretariat will take place on 30 April.
The inauguration was initially slated for 17 February but was postponed in view of the model code of conduct which came into force due to MLC elections in the state. Quite a few leaders of other regional parties are expected to attend the inauguration.
A new memorial for Telangana martyrs will also be unveiled on the occasion of Telangana statehood day celebrated on 2 June. The MLAs were directed to hold micro level meetings with grass root members for every ten villages and undertake padayatras. The students’ wing of the BRS would be strengthened.
Meanwhile, the state BJP held a counter protest to Kalvakuntla Kavitha’s hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi called Mahila Gosa-BJP Bharosa. Addressing the meeting, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleged that women public representatives were not safe from BRS leaders after a woman sarpanch levelled allegation of sexual harassment against BRS MLA of Ghanpur Thatikonda Rajaiah.
He also wondered why Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao didn’t follow the 33 per cent reservation for women during Cabinet formation, distribution of party tickets to MPs and MLAs or in the BRS organisational structure. He alleged Kavitha’s protest was only to divert attention from her involvement in an ED case.