Cabinet to take up polls on 6th

Ministers clear sops already announced by CM, don’t talk of early elections

The focus on Assembly dissolution and early elections has now shifted to the next Cabinet meeting likely to be held by September 6.

CABINET DOES approve any new schemes, unlike the norm for an outgoing government that would seek to rush through sops.

HARISH RAO says Cabinet only met to approve sops already announced by CM. The Cabinet meeting held by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan, a few hours before the party’s public meeting ‘Pragati Nivedana Sabha’ went off without any surprises.

No decision was taken during the Cabinet meeting either on going for early elections or on dissolution of the Legislative Assembly as was speculated intensely in political circles.

Interestingly, there were not even any fresh major sops that were approved in the Cabinet as anticipated, which would give indications that the ruling party had decided to opt for elections before they are due in April-May next year.

The Cabinet confined its agenda to its routine administrative business and according approvals to sops already announced by the Chief Minister to various sections on August 24, sanctioning of land and funds for construction of ‘self respect building complexes’ for various castes, increase in salaries for staff in a few departments, increasing retirement age for archakas from 58 to 65 years. etc.

The meeting went on for less than two hours after which the Chief Minister and his Cabinet ministers rushed to Kongara Kalan to take part in the public meeting.

After the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari, ministers Etala Rajender, T. Harish Rao briefed the media on the Cabinet meeting.

The ministers were quizzed about the Assembly dissolution and early polls repeatedly, but they replied that no such issues were discussed in the Cabinet meeting.

Mr Harish Rao said, “The Cabinet meeting was confined to the prescribed agenda. The agenda was to approve sops that were recently announced by the Chief Minister. No other issues other than in the agenda came up for discussion.”

Mr Srihari too clarified that no issues that the media was expecting were discussed in the meeting and stated that the Chief Minister would hold another meeting ‘very soon’ which would take up all such issues and take a decision.