Opposition toils to form coalition against TRS

​Hyderabad: Not wanting to be left behind in the race, Opposition parties have begun their moves to cobble up a coalition to turn the heat on the ruling TRS. As part of it, leaders of all Opposition parties came together on Tuesday and called on Governor Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan seeking imposition of President’s rule in the state to prevent the ruling party from abusing the Constitution to further its political interests. 

Leaders of the Congress, Telugu Desam, Telangana Jana Samithi and Communist Party of India were part of the delegation that called on the Governor seeking measures to ‘Save Democracy’.  The delegation comprised N Uttam Kumar Reddy, K Jana Reddy M Bhatti Vikramarka (all Cong), L Ramana (TDP), M Kodandaram (TJS) and Ch Venkata Reddy (CPI). 

The Congress leader strongly objected to the Commission’s decision to cut down the deadline for the completion of the revision of electoral rolls to four weeks from the earlier four-month schedule. He alleged that the TRS included bogus voters in a huge number in Hyderabad. Reddy also took strong exception to the statement made by TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao on the election schedule at a recently held press conference.  He expressed serious doubts on the sincerity of the Commission in maintaining secrecy in the discharge of the duties. 

The BJP delegation led by senior leader Indrasena Reddy asked the Commission the current status of the voters in the seven mandals which were merged with Andhra after the bifurcation, but they still remain part of three Assembly constituencies in Telangana. 

The BJP demanded the EC not to issue election notification without addressing the issue.  The BJP team also wanted the EC to extend the deadline for enrollment of voters by another 15 days keeping in mind people being busy on Moharrum  on October 21 and  Ganesh Chaturthi and Idols Immersion from September 13 to 23. 

The CPM delegation, led by DG Narasimha Rao, and CPI team headed by Ch Venkat Reddy questioned the Election Commission for the conduct of early elections in Telangana by incurring crores of public money as expenditure. The Left party leaders demanded the Commission to hold the elections only after completing the revision of the electoral rolls as per the earlier schedule under which the final electoral rolls will be announced in December. TRS leader and MP B Vinod requested the Commission to complete the official process to the finalization of the electoral rolls as per the fresh schedule and hold elections at the earliest.  

AIMIM delegation led by party senior leader Akabaruddin Owaisi requested the Commission to take up a drive and remove fake votes in Hyderabad. BSP leader Ellanna demanded the EC to make arrangements for the smooth functioning of VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails) machines at the time of voting.