Amit Shah summons Laxman to Delhi

Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State unit president K Laxman left for Delhi on Sunday evening following party chief Amit Shah's summoning for an emergency meeting, against the backdrop of poll panel announcing the election schedule.According to sources, the meeting is meant to finalise the list of party candidates for 17 parliament constituencies from Telangana. Also, the campaign schedule of the party will be finalised for Telangana that is going for the polls on April 11.

The party is likely to announce few of its candidates and the campaign schedule late on March 11 or on 12, the sources said. It may be mentioned here that the party which has only one MP from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency is hoping for a few more seats from the State this time. Speaking to The Hans India, party sources said, "unlike in the State Assembly polls, we hope this time, people will consider national issues before casting their vote. However, how to tackle Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the TRS this time to garner peoples support is the main issue," he added.

Despite an extensive campaign during the State Assembly elections the party has lost its existing seats giving a shock to the party cadre and the State leadership. However, there is a difference between the Assembly and parliament elections and the way people vote differs from one another. Particularly, the party hopes to get more first time and young voters to throw their weight behind the party against the backdrop of growing concerns of national security turning into a poll issue.