High-Decibel Campaign Ends in Telangana

Hyderabad: A high-decibel campaign for the Telangana Assembly elections ended on Wednesday evening. A news conference jointly addressed by Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders of the People’s Front in Hyderabad was ended abruptly a minute before the deadline for campaign ended at 5 p.m.

Ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao addressed his last election rally in Gajwel constituency, from where he is seeking re-election. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned on the last day addressing four rallies. A little over 2.80 crore people are eligible to vote in the Friday election. A total of 1,821 candidates are in the fray in 119 constituencies. The acrimonious campaign saw no-holds-barred exchanges among leaders of the three political formations and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a key player in Hyderabad.

Seeking a second consecutive term in India’s youngest state, TRS is contesting all the seats on its own. MIM has declared support to TRS, barring eight constituencies in Hyderabad. KCR, whose party bagged 63 seats in 2014, dissolved the Assembly in September to go for early elections, eight months before its term was to end. The Congress is contesting 94 seats and its ally TDP 13. They have left the remaining seats for Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI). The BJP is contesting the polls on its own. The Bahujan Left Front (BLD) led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are also contesting. (IANS)

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