The political buzz around the prospect of an early Assembly election in Telangana has acquired considerable resonance, and only a formal announcement remains to be made.

Chief Minister and Telengana Rashtra Samithi leader K Chandrasekhara Rao’s meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, ostensibly to get pending projects through, lend credence to the possibility, as do other hectic parleys.

The youngest State in the Indian Union, with a 119-member Legislative Assembly, will attract much political attention if KCR gambles on a snap poll months short of completing a full term in office, which runs till May 2019. The big question in Telangana political circles is: Will KCR convince the Election Commission to announce elections in December or will there be joint elections to around 10 States in February?

Meeting various leaders

Elections are due in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, among other States, by the end of 2018

The Telangana CM has been holding parleys with party leaders, including closed-door sessions, in the past week. The public utterances of key ministers such as KT Rama Rao and Nayani Narasimha Reddy also confirm the speculation of an early election.

The MLA math

In 2014 elections, the TRS won 63 of the 119 seats, riding on a Telangana wave. The Congress (I) won 22 seats, the TDP-BJP combine 20, and the MIM 7.

However, the TRS has since split the TDP, and drawn in the YSR Congress and independents to improve its support to nearly 90. The TDP now has just three MLAs, down from 15. The MIM has become a TRS-friendly party.

KCR has also cosied up to the BJP at the Centre, which has served to keep the ambitions of the State BJP under check. These days, the State BJP only keeps up appearances of being in Opposition with mild criticism of the State government.

Two new parties have come up in the State. One of these was floated by M Kodandaram, the political science professor who played a key role as Convenor of the Joint Action Committee of political parties in the movement for a Telangana State. The second is headed by balladeer Gaddar.

Son rising

Political analysts feel that Kodandaram could pose some serious opposition to the TRS in several constituencies, given his resonance with the people of Telangana and for his strident criticism of the KCR government for failing to deliver on its promises.

KCR’s strategy in opting for an early election seems to be motivated by a keenness to take advantage of a divided Opposition and an under-prepared Congress(I) — although State party chief Uttam Kumar Reddy says the party is well prepared.

KCR is also laying the ground to anoint his son KT Rama Rao, IT & Industries Minster, as his successor and could himself move to the national stage.

Welfare projects

In recent weeks, the TRS government has announced many welfare schemes such as Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bhima, and is taking up projects such as Kaleshwaram irrigation, Mission Kakatiya, Haritha Haram, and Mission Bhagiratha.

KCR evidently believes he can win a second term if he catches the Opposition, mainly the Congress, off-guard.

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