KCR’S CALL FOR CABINET MEET FANS RUMOURS OF EARLY POLLS

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has summoned a Cabinet meeting on Thursday leading to speculation that he may move to dissolve the state assembly to pave the way for early elections.

Rao has asked all his Cabinet colleagues to be available to attend the meeting and instructed all members of the legislative assembly belonging to his ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to attend to work they may have, such as inauguration of any new projects, before Thursday, a TRS functionary said on condition of anonymity.

“At 6.45 am, KCR and his Cabinet colleagues will meet Governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan to submit a copy of the cabinet resolution on dissolution of the state assembly,” the person said.

When contacted, a spokesman for the chief minister’s office confirmed that a Cabinet meeting had been scheduled for Thursday.

Speculation has been rife that Rao is moving to dissolve the assembly to advance the Telangana election to coincide with the November-December polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram. If the assembly were to run its course, the state elections would be held together with general elections next year. The Telangana cabinet met in Hyderabad on Sunday amid buzz that the chief minister planned to dissolve the assembly and hold early elections but it ended without taking a decision on the issue.