Telangana Elections To Be Held By Year-End? Poll Panel To Decide Today

Whether Telangana can go for early elections will be discussed today by the Election Commission as it meets a day after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao declared that the state assembly would be dissolved to facilitate polls eight months before schedule.

The Election Commission will examine the possibility of Telangana voting for a new assembly by December - along with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, which are scheduled to vote this year.

The top election body meets every Tuesday and Friday for discussions and Telangana is likely to come up in today's meeting, a senior official said.

"Issues like festivals, examinations and weather conditions will be discussed before arriving at a final conclusion," the official said on the possibility of Telangana polls at the end of this year.

The term of the Telangana assembly was originally till June 2019 but the state's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti of Chief Minister Rao, or KCR as he is popularly known, reportedly wants to avoid a clash with the national election due next year.

KCR yesterday called a cabinet meeting before announcing his widely-anticipated decision to dissolve the assembly and call for early polls.

While Mr Rao cited "political fragility" in the state as a reason for wanting early polls, sources close to him say he wants to ensure that the focus during the state polls is on his role and his government's achievements, rather than on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

KCR yesterday called a cabinet meeting before announcing his widely-anticipated decision to dissolve the assembly and call for early polls. He had reportedly also consulted the Election Commission.

Elections must be held in a state within six months of the assembly being dissolved. The BJP claims KCR believes he has a better chance to win before the state gets caught up in the campaign for the general elections.