Chandrasekhar Rao dissolves Assembly, calls for snap polls

Hyderabad: Ending weeks of speculation, Telangana chief minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Thursday recommended dissolution of the state Assembly eight months before its full term, clearing the decks for early elections in the state. 

After KCR’s communication, governor E.S.L. Narasimhan dissolved the first Telangana state Assembly eight months ahead of its full term and asked the chief minister and his council of ministers to continue as a caretaker government.

There is a possibility that Telangana elections may be held along with Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. A notification issued by governor’s office said the caretaker government will continue till the new government is formed or for six months, whichever is earlier. If Assembly elections are not conducted within six months of dissolution of the House, President’s rule will be imposed.

Earlier in the afternoon, Mr Rao chaired a Cabinet meeting at 1 pm which passed a one-line resolution requesting the governor to dissolve the Assembly. After the Cabinet meeting, which lasted four minutes, Mr Rao went to Raj Bhavan and presented the resolution to the governor during a 20-minute meeting.

After the Governor accepted the resolution, Raj Bhavan issued the gazette notification within minutes on dissolution of the Assembly. Raj Bhavan also communicated the dissolution of the House to the Assembly secretariat and the Election Commission.

Meanwhile chief secretary S.K. Joshi issued a notification on Mr Rao and his Cabinet continuing in a caretaker capacity. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was formed on June 2, 2014, the Appointed Day of Telangana state.

Mr Rao’s push for early polls is seen as amove to surprise rivals and avoid a clash between Assembly polls with Parliamentary elections.