Hyderabad: Ending days of suspense, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asked the Governor on Thursday to dissolve the assembly, paving the way for early elections in the state. Governor ESL Narasimhan has accepted his recommendation. The move will push forward the polls from the middle of 2019 to the end of this year. Till then, Rao will remain the caretaker Chief Minister.
A resolution recommending the dissolution of the House was adopted at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao Thursday afternoon.
Shortly afterwards, Rao drove to Raj Bhavan and handed over the resolution to Governor ESL Narasimhan, who accepted the Cabinet's decision.
This brings the curtains down on the first elected Legislative Assembly in Telangana.
The Council of Ministers led by Rao assumed office on June 2, 2014, the day Telangana came into existence as the 29th state of India.
Speculation was rife for quite some time that Rao may go in for an early poll as the opposition in the state was in disarray.
The final decision on whether to hold an early election now rests with the Election Commission.
In normal circumstances, election to the Telangana assembly would coincide with the Lok Sabha polls.
Sources in the ruling party said Rao wanted to cash in on what he believes was a "positive atmosphere" in favour of his government.
The TRS government's decision to go for an early election has come in for sharp criticism by the Congress and some other opposition parties.
Chief spokesperson of the Telangana unit of the Congress Sravan Dasoju alleged there was a "dubious pact" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rao, insisting if simultaneous elections were to be held for Lok Sabha and the state assembly, it would have turned into a "Rahul Gandhi versus Modi fight" in states like Telangana and benefited the Congress.
The BJP, however, was ambiguous on the issue, with its state spokesman Krishna Sagar Rao saying voters had already made up their minds about whom to vote and will stick to it.
CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said Rao's decision to have an early election stemmed from his "fear" that he would get "more isolated" if polls are held next year.
Sources in the TRS said Rao was upbeat about his continued popularity among the electorate.
"The idea is to encash the positive mood among the people. Rao has played safe," a TRS leader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.