Ruling TRS worried about advancing Telangana Assembly elections, claims Congress leader Jaipal Reddy

Hyderabad: Claiming that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is now worried about having chosen to advance the Assembly elections, senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy said his party would have the upper hand in the polls. “KCR (TRS president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao) is now worried that he has taken a hurried step. There is fright in the TRS camp,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_515087” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Congess leader Jaipal Reddy. PTI[/caption] The polls were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year. But the Telangana Assembly was dissolved earlier this month as per a recommendation of the state cabinet, which necessitated elections ahead of schedule. In a swift move, TRS had announced candidates for 105 of the total of 119 Assembly segments the day House was dissolved. Reddy said 50 to 60 percent of Congress’ candidates are known to the people, and the remaining would be finalised as per the party’s process. He also said that the dates of the elections are not known yet, and that the matter of alleged irregularities in the voters’ lists in the state was before the Supreme Court. “There are many aspects to the electoral scene in Telangana. First of all, its still not clear when the elections will be or should be held. In my view, the notification date for the enrolment of voters cannot be changed by the Election Commission. That’s now under the court’s purview,” Reddy said. He added that the Congress would have the upper hand in the polls as every section of society was “unhappy” with the TRS government. “I am staking my personal reputation by stating that the Congress will have the upper hand in Telangana. Every section of society is unhappy with KCR. They think that he has cheated every group in Telangana.” “There is huge reaction. The reaction has so far been silent. From now, it will not be silent,” Reddy said. He dismissed TRS’ charge that the proposed alliance between Congress and Telugu Desam Party as part of a grand alliance among various parties is “unholy” as both have been bitter rivals. “As yet, there is no alliance. But I am not ruling out an alliance. What is so unholy about it? KCR and Chandrababu Naidu canvassed together in the 2009 elections. So it is like the devil citing the scriptures,” Reddy said.