Modi, Shah, Sonia, Rahul to campaign for Telangana polls

Campaigning for the December 7 Telangana Assembly polls would hit top gear during the next fortnight with top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, set to address public meetings in the state.

With the process of filing nominations coming to a close on Monday, all major parties, the ruling TRS, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Congress along with its “grand alliance” constituents -the TDP and others -- have drawn up plans for intense hustings.

The Congress has announced that Sonia Gandhi, on her first visit to Telangana after the state’s formation, will address a public meeting on November 23 at Medchal on the periphery of Hyderabad. Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit the the state for campaigning on November 28, 29 and December 3, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy said.

State BJP chief K Laxman has said that while Shah would campaign in Telangana during a three-day visit from November 25, Modi is expected to visit the state for campaigning in the first week of December.

TRS president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the ruling party’s star campaigner, will address a series of campaign meetings this week. His son K T Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao, both ministers in the caretaker government, have been leading the campaign since the Assembly was dissolved on September 6.

The Telugu Desam Party would get star power with N Balakrishna, the son of party founder N T Rama Rao and a top-ranking Telugu film hero, canvassing for the party.

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