Parties make final bid to woo voters as campaigning ends in Telangana

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, November 28

Campaigning in Telangana, the last of the five states to go to the Assembly polls, came to an end today.

While polling will take place in Telangana on November 30, the counting for all five states would take place on December 3. The results of the five states will be seen as an indication of the mood of the voters before the General Election slated for next year.

The Congress, which has thrown a strong challenge to Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), held a roadshow at Malkajgiri today in which Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi participated.

Addressing a rally in Nampally, Rahul said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to be defeated in Delhi, BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) must be defeated in Telangana. Rahul also alleged that the BRS, BJP and AIMIM were working together.

KCR attacked the Congress over its talk of bringing back ‘Indiramma rajyam’ (the rule of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi). KCR alleged that Indira’s regime was fraught with “encounters, firings and killings”. “Who wants Indiramma rajyam? What happened in Indiramma rajyam? If it was so good, why would NTR (former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh NT Rama Rao) have to float a party and offer rice at Rs 2 per kg?” KCR said while speaking in Warangal.

BJP leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde campaigned in Adilabad, while his deputy Devendra Fadnavis campaigned in Devarakonda in support of the BJP candidates. Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti addressed a poll rally in Hanamkonda. BJP pokesperson Sambit Patra flagged off a bike rally at Alwal in support of the BJP candidate. Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai campaigned in the Nizamabad Urban constituency.

PM Modi, who arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday, spent three days in the state during which he addressed multiple rallies and also took part in a roadshow in Hyderabad.

While the BRS and the Congress are seen as two frontrunners for winning majority in the 119-member strong Telangana Assembly, the BJP is eyeing the slot of a kingmaker.