Chief Minister KC Rao Recommends Dissolution Of Telangana Assembly

The Telangana government recommended the dissolution of the state assembly ending weeks of speculation, official sources said.

A resolution recommending the dissolution of the House was adopted at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao this afternoon.

Shortly afterwards, Rao drove to Raj Bhavan and handed over the resolution to Governor ESL Narasimhan, who accepted the Cabinet's decision.

The governor, while accepting the recommendation of the chief minister and ministers, has requested them to continue in office as a caretaker government, said the Raj Bhavan press release.

This brings the curtains down on the first elected legislative assembly in Telangana. The council of ministers led by Rao assumed office on June 2, 2014, the day Telangana came into existence as the 29th state.

Speculation was rife for quite some time that Rao may go in for an early poll as the opposition in the state was in a disarray. The final decision on whether to hold an early election now rests with the Election Commission.

Election to the Telangana assembly would coincide with the Lok Sabha polls in normal circumstances.

Sources in the ruling party said Rao wanted to cash in on what he believes was a “positive atmosphere” in favour of his government.

The Telangana Rashtriya Samiti government's decision to for an early election has come in for sharp criticism by the Congress and some other opposition parties.

“The state was formed after so much of struggle and sacrifices. People had so many hopes of development, farm issues being addressed and employment generation but all these promises have not been fulfilled,” chief spokesperson of the Telangana unit of the Congress Sravan Dasoju told PTI.

He also alleged there was a “dubious pact” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rao, insisting if simultaneous elections were to be held for Lok Sabha and the state assembly, it would have turned into a “Rahul Gandhi versus Modi fight” in states like Telangana and benefited the Congress.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, was ambiguous on the issue, with its state spokesman Krishna Sagar Rao saying voters had made up their minds about whom to vote and will stick to it.

Keeping in mind the “electoral pattern nationally” the BJP certainly feels that it has an edge whenever polls are held. CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said Rao's decision to have an early election stemmed from his “fear” that he would get “more isolated” if polls are held next year.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi bagged 63 seats in the 2014 polls but its strength rose over time with 19 MLAs from the opposition joined it.