Commuters in Hyderabad and Telangana will face major traffic hurdles as several lakh people make their way towards the Pragathi Nivedana Sabha, where the ruling TRS is holding a massive meeting on Sunday.
A traffic advisory has been issued to those heading towards the Hyderabad airport, asking them to plan their travel at least two hours ahead. Airport bound vehicles have also been asked to avoid the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and take roads inside the city, like the PVNR Expressway.
An area of 2,000 acres has been identified, at Kongara Kalan village, abutting Hyderabad's ORR, and the TRS estimates that 25 lakh people will attend the meet.
"Large number of vehicles from different parts of the state are expected to move towards the venue. Most of these vehicles would move on the ORR and other important roads in and around Shamshabad, thereby affecting the general traffic moving towards the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA)," the Cyberabad police said in a release.
Meanwhile, 7,300 out of the total 12,000 RTC buses in the state will remain unavailable to the general public on Sunday, IT Minister KT Rama Rao told reporters on Friday, adding that they have been hired to transport people to the venue. The TRS party has emphasised that the buses were hired on a rental basis.
Thousands of tractors had already begun their journey on Friday, expecting to reach a night before the event, and have been advised to leave on Monday morning.
The TRS has turned the city and outskirts pink by putting up billboards, flags and posters.
The Hyderabad High Court, while rejecting a petition to ban the meet, directed the organisers to ensure that inconvenience to the public is minimised.
Major announcements expected
The TRS said that the main dais could accommodate up to 600 people and 1,500 acres was also being developed with 16 parking lots, to accommodate 1 lakh vehicles.
Interestingly, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will be the sole speaker for the event.
"The main aim of the meeting is to highlight what the state government has achieved over the last four years as we are answerable to the people," Nizamabad MP K Kavitha told reporters earlier in the week.
This comes amid speculation that KCR might dissolve the Telangana State Assembly through a cabinet resolution on Sunday and wish to go in for early polls in November or December this year.
As the TRS government has absolute majority, the recommendation of the cabinet would be binding on the Governor. If the Election Commission agrees, the polls may be held in December along with the elections in three other states.
If this happens, the Chief Minister and his cabinet would continue as a caretaker government, until the elections.
KCR is also expected to list his party's candidates for the polls during the meeting on Sunday.
All other political parties in the state have also begun preparing for the polls, as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Uttam Kumar Reddy rushed to New Delhi to meet party president Rahul Gandhi. TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has also held a closed door meeting with party leaders in the state, on the issue.
Observers say that the Chief Minister is keen to avoid simultaneous elections to the Assembly and the Parliament.
In August itself, the Chief Minister had met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After his latest meeting last week, the new zonal system proposed by the Telangana government received the Presidential nod.
The state government aims to enable 95% reservations to locals as far as employment opportunities in the public sector are concerned. The zonal system is also expected to be one of the key agendas of KCR's speech.
Several IPS and IAS officers including Police Superintendents and District Collectors were also recently shuffled in Telangana, with observers pointing out that this was done to prepare for the possible early election.
IANS inputs