TRS mega rally on Sunday amid talk of early polls

HYDERABAD: Amid strong indications of early elections in Telangana, the ruling TRS is all set to hold a massive show of strength here on Sunday.

Billed as the mother of all rallies, it will be preceded by a meeting of the state cabinet, which is likely to take a decision on the early polls.

Leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will take "key decisions" at the cabinet meeting and announce them at the public meeting.

The cabinet may pass a resolution to dissolve the Assembly and recommend this to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. If the Election Commission agrees, the polls may be held in December along with the elections in three other states.

For last few weeks, RAO had been dropping hints of assembly elections being advanced. He has already declared that the party will announce the candidates in September.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, is keen to advance the assembly polls by six months to avoid simultaneous elections to the Assembly and the Parliament.

His two meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August further added to the speculation.

KCR's son and cabinet minister K.T. Rama Rao said the Chief Minister would take a final decision on early polls. Rama Rao, who is number two in the party and the government, is confident of TRS retaining power whenever the elections are held as the party enjoys full support of the people.

Titled "Pragati Nivedana", the meeting to be held at Kongara Kalan at Ibrahimpatnam on the city outskirts is expected to attract 25 lakh people. Rama Rao claims that this will be the biggest political rally in the country.

According to him, TRS has 47 lakh members and if half of them turn up, the meet would be a huge success. TRS leaders are mobilising people for the meet from across the state.

Arrangements were in full swing for the meeting amid allegations by the Congress and other opposition parties that TRS was misusing official machinery. They asked TRS to explain the source of funds for the event.

The massive mobilisation of people is expected to hit the traffic on Outer Ring Road (ORR) as thousands of vehicles will be heading towards the venue from different entry points along ORR. Rama Rao has suggested to people not attending the meeting to stay indoors.

Hyderabad High Court, while rejecting a petition to bar the meet, directed the organisers to ensure that inconvenience to public is minimised.

TRS has turned the city and outskirts pink by putting up billboards, flags and posters.