A day after dissolving the Telangana Assembly, caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is all set to kick off his election campaign in the state by addressing a public meeting at Husnabad on Friday.
The meeting, which has been dubbed 'Prajala Asheervada Sabha', which roughly translates to (People's blessings meet), will be the first of 100 such meetings that the TRS has planned across the state, in 50 days.
Caretaker Irrigation Minister Harish Rao, who is also KCR's nephew, and caretaker Finance Minister Etela Rajender have been tasked with organising the meet and ensuring that things run smoothly.
Other senior leaders including Gangula Kamalakar, Putta Madhu, Vidyasagar Rao, Vinod Kumar and Paturi Sudhakar Reddy are also helping in mobilising crowds, media reports stated.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission is scheduled to hold a meeting on Friday and the issue of Telangana seeking to go for early polls, might be discussed.
"Issues like festivals, examinations and weather conditions will be discussed before arriving at a final conclusion," a senior EC official told PTI.
KCR also told reporters on Thursday that he personally spoke to the Chief Election Commissioner and discussed the entire issue at length with top officials of the state government.
"Election will happen together with four other states. There should be no confusion," he said, hinting at Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.
Nearly nine months before its term was to end, the Assembly was dissolved by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, accepting a recommendation by the cabinet on Thursday. He asked KCR and his Council of Ministers to continue in office as caretaker Government.
The Assembly term was till May 2019 and elections in normal course would have been conducted along with the Lok Sabha polls in April-May.
The Congress, BJP, TDP and other parties have criticised KCR's move. The BJP termed it undemocratic. Its leaders called on the Governor in the evening to request him to ensure that the caretaker government functions within the prescribed limits.
The Congress said early elections to the Assembly and subsequent polls to the Lok Sabha will hamper development process in the state.
IANS inputs