Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said he was ready to go for early elections and dared the opposition to face the same.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 15, said the elections may be advanced.

Rao said the leaders of his party and even people were ready for early elections. He exuded confidence that TRS will win over 100 seats in 119-member state assembly.

Elections to Telangana assembly are scheduled in April-May next year along with Lok Sabha polls but ever since the TRS chief’s meeting, there have been reports of the polls being advanced.

Modi is understood to have hinted that simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana could be conducted by November-December.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, held meetings with TRS leaders during last few days to discuss the possibility of early elections and to review the preparedness of the party.

On Sunday, KCR formally admitted former minister Danam Nagender into the TRS. Nagender, who quit the Congress two days ago, joined the ruling party along with his followers.

Speaking on the occasion, KCR said all surveys show that TRS will win the next elections as the party was striving to achieve the goal of golden Telangana.

He slammed the opposition parties for criticizing the government. Alleging the opposition parties were unable to digest the number of welfare and development schemes launched by the TRS government during last four years, he challenged them to face the early elections.

The Telangana government on Thursday launched a new scheme in which the farmers in the state will get Rs 8,000 per acre each every year as crop investment support.

Launching the programme titled ‘Rythu Bandhu’, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao claimed that Telangana is the first state in India to implement a farmer investment support scheme.

The government plans to spend Rs 12,000 crore every year under this scheme, benefiting 58 lakh farmers. The financial assistance will be for two crops each year.

The Chief Minister told a public meeting at Indira Nagar in Karimnagar district that under the first phase, the government has made Rs 6,000 crore available in the banks.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, distributed cheques among the farmers to formally launch the scheme.

He also distributed ‘pattadar’ pass books among farmers. The land title documents were prepared after a comprehensive land survey across the state. He pointed out that the survey identified 1.40 crore acres as cultivable land in the state.

KCR said the exercise for purification of land records was taken up for effective implementation of the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme.

Ministers and officials will distribute cheques and pass books among farmers across the state over the next one week.

KCR claimed that Telangana, the youngest state of India, is redefining the future of agriculture in the country by implementing innovative schemes.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief said he was committed to irrigate one crore acres of land by completing all irrigation projects.

He claimed that Telangana is the only state supplying 24-hour free electricity to farmers. The state government has waived crop loans and was also implementing a Rs 5 lakh insurance scheme.

A day before the launch of ‘Rythu Bandhu’, the Chief Minister on Wednesday announced the waiver of Rs 700 crore water dues, benefiting lakhs of farmers.

KCR spoke about the all-round progress the state has made during the last four years and reiterated his commitment to transform it into ‘golden Telangana’. He listed several schemes launched by his government for the welfare of all sections of people.

KCR said his government could do all this because Telangana is a rich state. He claimed that Telangana is the only state in the country to record 20 per cent growth in its revenues during the last two years.

He targeted the opposition parties, especially the Congress, saying TRS had achieved in four years what they could not in the last 70 years.

The TRS chief appealed to the people to vote for the party in next year’s elections so that the government can continue its journey on the path of rapid growth of the state.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday said the proposed non-Congress, non-BJP Federal Front will trigger tremors in national politics.

Challenging both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President vowed to bring a qualitative change in the national politics.

Addressing over 13,000 delegates gathered at the TRS plenary here, he said the idea of the Front had already created ripples in the national capital.

Holding the two national parties responsible for all the ills plaguing the nation even after 70 years of independence, he said the Federal Front would put the country on the path of speedy progress and prosperity through real cooperative federalism.

Stating that the efforts to form the Front were gathering pace, he said Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav would visit Hyderabad soon.

Rao announced he would meet DMK leader M.K. Stalin next month.

The plenary unanimously adopted a resolution authorising the Chief Minister to take all necessary steps to form the Front.

He has already met his West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress supemo Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal-Secular President H.D. Deve Gowda and some other leaders since mooting the idea of the Front last month.

Rao alleged that both BJP and Congress were afraid of him because he was known for his determination. The TRS chief said he would work hard for the country’s good just the way he strived to achieve Telangana state.

“The BJP leaders are saying that the Front doesn’t even have a tent. If that is so, why are you afraid?” he asked.

Rao said the Front would prepare a plan to irrigate every acre of land in the country as it had sufficient water.

“We will irrigate all 40 crore acres of land in the country in six to seven years.”

Stressing the need for decentralisation, he called for transferring subjects like agriculture, education, rural and urban development, drinking water and health to the state.

“Why should the Centre keep subjects like laying roads in villages and paying wages under MNREGA?” he asked.

The Centre, he said, should instead focus on key issues like diplomacy and to save the lives of Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.

“China and other neighbouring countries are progressing very fast but we are not competing with them because of the weak leadership. We have all the resources, human power that is willing to work. What we are lacking is the strong and determined leadership,” he added.

Amid talks on the formation of a political front ahead of the 2019 general elections, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will meet his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik here in the first week of May, informed sources said.

Rao, who heads the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, will meet Patnaik, the Biju Janata Dal President, in Bhubaneswar, they added.

Rao will first visit the world famous Jagannath temple in Puri and then call on the Odisha Chief Minister, the sources said.

Though there is no formal political agenda, both leaders are likely to discuss the current political situation and formation of an alternative front as both the parties are maintaining equi-distance from the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the Congress.

However, Patnaik said they would not discuss the possibility of a third front.

“The Telangana Chief Minister is visiting Puri on a pilgrimage. On the way, he will pay a courtesy call (on me). There will be no discussion on the federal front or anything that has to do with politics,” Patnaik told reporters here.

Even though Patnaik has so far not revealed his plans vis-a-vis national politics, the proposed meeting is expected to throw light on the BJD’s future course of action with regard to the federal front.

Rao met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata last month and Janata Dal-Secular chief and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda last week.

With the advent of social media, the culture of memes and morphing has become vogue off late. Some of these morphed images are virally circulating over the internet and causing much trouble to the people involved in it. Now, a person named Rathod has been arrested for morphing KCR family’s image. Rathod belongs to Bayyaram mandalam of Mahaboobabaad district. The photo had the title”Stuart Puram Dongala Mutha” attached to it and hence became controversial.

This picture was posted on the Facebook walls of some accounts which was noticed by TRS leader Jarupula Sreenu Bayyaram and complained to the police. The police immediately booked the case on Rathod Baayi under IPS 153A section and started investigation.

CI Ravi clearly stated that such objectionable posts on social media aimed at hampering good name of leaders will be severely prosecuted.

Under the leadership of K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Telangana Government is taking revolutionary decisions to make the state a better place for living. In a bid to curb the traffic crisis, and instil the faith in the public that roads are meant for the public, CM KCR has taken a key decision. The Telangana CM has passed an order that private buses from henceforth will not be allowed to enter into the city premises.

Currently, private buses are allowed to operate before 8:00 am in the morning and post 9:00 pm in the evening. Usually, buses finish their trips before 8:00 am in the morning and leave the city only after 9:00 pm in the evenings.

With the latest decision taken by the government, the private buses will not be allowed to enter the city. Buses coming from Vijayawada and Kurnool will end their trips at LB Nagar and Attapur respectively.

If any private bus is seen operating within the city premises from hereon, the bus license will be cancelled, with a legal action to be followed, said a bureaucrat.
The private bus operators are yet to react on this.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday condemned attacks on Dalits during nationwide protests the previous day.

He said the entire country should stand by the Dalits, who have been economically, socially and politically suppressed for generations.

In a statement, the Chief Minister said the governments should ensure that the laws and acts made for the Dalits were implemented properly.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief demanded that the judiciary take into account the feelings, agony and opinion of the Dalits.

He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak with the Supreme Court Chief Justice in this regard.

“The Central government should take a sympathetic view on the ongoing agitation launched by the Dalits who are crestfallen with the Supreme Court guidelines. The Centre also should repose faith among the Dalits and assure them that it stands by them,” Rao added.

Violent protests on Monday claimed nine lives against a Supreme Court order that dilutes the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.