Chandrasekhar Rao, in a party meeting, claimed that elections would take place within six weeks.
The Election Commission (EC) is considering holding election to the Telangana Assembly along with those of four states—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram—sometime in December. This is the picture that emerged after the two-day tour of an EC delegation headed by Senior Deputy Commissioner Umesh Sinha to Hyderabad on 11 and 12 September.
A few days ago it was rumoured that the EC might order polls in Telangana, where the ruling TRS government has dissolved the Assembly on 6 September, much ahead of the four state Assembly elections, possibly by the end of November.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in a party meeting claimed that elections will come within six weeks and he would be sworn in by early December.
The EC’s decision to suspend the revision of electoral rolls which would go on till 1 January 2019 and publication of draft rolls by 8 October 2018, fuelled the speculation that Telangana would be delinked from the four other states and polls here would be advanced. However, Sinha, at his wrap-up meeting with state officials and district collectors, hinted that they should be prepared for December polls.
Sinha met different stakeholders—officials and representatives of political parties—during his visit, and expressed satisfaction over the arrangements for elections at any time in the state. “We are satisfied with the arrangements and poll-preparedness, but the decision to hold the polls and timing rests with the EC,” he said.
The district collectors had told the EC delegation that they were ready to draft enough staff for poll duties and Director General of Police Mahender Reddy said that enough police personnel would be kept ready for security. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana Rajath Kumar submitted a report on poll-readiness.
The CEO told the EC delegation that as many as 44,000 VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial) machines and 22,000 control units were being supplied by the public sector Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore.
Already, the first batch of machines had been sent to Adilabad district in the state and the rest would reach by the month end.
However, the EC delegation faced a piquant situation when some political leaders raised the issue of deletion of around 20 lakh voters from the rolls since 2016. Former Congress minister Marri Sashidhar Reddy submitted a memorandum with details of deleted voters’ list in the limits of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
Last week, Reddy submitted a note to Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat in Delhi on the deletion of voters and urged him not to go ahead with the election unless they were included in the rolls. Again on Friday, too, Reddy called on Rawat and raised the same issue. Reddy told the CEC that the ruling TRS was behind deletion of voters’ names in the city limits.
Reddy told The Sunday Guardian over phone that he urged the EC to take steps to ensure all eligible voters were enrolled.
Reddy earlier threatened to move the courts if the elections were conducted based on the existing voters’ lists which he termed “faulty”. He also felt that the poll staff should be trained on the VVPATs which are being used for the first time in Telangana.
The EC delegation, which heard all these complaints, is of the view that they can be sorted out by the end of October. Though the draft rolls are published by 8 October, there will be enough time for new inclusions and changes, if any. The process can go on till the month end or first week of November. The schedule for five state (including Telangana) Assemblies will be issued by then.
The EC’s decision to club Telangana Assembly elections with those of others will have political consequences. If elections in Telangana were held before that of others, it would be advantageous to CM KCR, who doesn’t want possible Congress revival in three northern states to impact his party’s show in the state.
That is the reason why he wants early elections in Telangana so that he can easily defeat Congress and demoralise the party before other state and Lok Sabha polls. He is afraid that any Congress revival in three states might affect his performance. KCR specifically called on Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan on Thursday to impress him on the need to hold Telangana elections as early as possible.
The indications from the EC in Delhi suggest that elections to all the five states would be held together (if not on the same dates) and results would be declared on the same day. If that happens, it would be a level playing field for all parties in Telangana as the Opposition camp wants the same and ruling TRS feels no harm in that.
Rawat’s comments in an interview to a news agency on Wednesday that the EC would hold polls in Telangana within six months after the dissolution of the Assembly shocked the TRS. If so, Telangana can go to polls by 6 March 2019, which may be time for general election to the Lok Sabha too, which TRS doesn’t like. However, the present pace of arrangements suggests December polls to the Telangana Assembly.