Polls done, KCR to focus on party and state work

Hyderabad: The nine-month-long election fever will ebb in the next four days with the polls to the zilla parishad chairpersons and mandal presidents, and the model code of conduct will formally end.

Now, TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to concentrate on party and government activities.

The Lok Sabha results gave a shock to the TRS which swept the Assembly elections just give months earlier. The party suffered major setbacks with the defeat of Mr Rao’s daughter and sitting MP K. Kavitha from the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat and his right hand man B. Vinod Kumar from Karimnagar. Mr Vinod Kumar has said that he was defeated due to the party’s over-confidence.

Armed with a massive mandate in the local bodies elections, Mr Rao has decided to give equal importance to government and party activities, keeping in view the 2023 Assembly elections.

Before the Lok Sabha election results, Mr Rao had planned to concentrate on national politics and go to Delhi. Against his expectations, the BJP got a huge majority to form government on its own. In Telangana state, the TRS won only nine Lok Sabha seats, leaving Mr Rao little play at the Centre.

He has therefore decided to focus on the state.

The first task of Mr Rao is Cabinet expansion; he can induct six more ministers in his ministry. TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao and former minister T Harish Rao will be inducted in the Cabinet.

After the exercise the state government has to present the full Budget for 2019-20 in the Assembly. The Centre has decided to present the Union budget in Parliament on July 5.  Only after that will the state government know the quantum of funds it will be getting from the Centre and can prepare its Budget.

Mr Rao will tour the districts to get briefed on the problems faced by the people and also to inspect the implementation of government schemes.

During the Lok Sabha election campaign, he said during public meetings in every district that he would visit the districts in the next two months and take decisions to resolve problems on the spot. Mr Rao also said that if necessary he would stay there for two to three days till the problems are solved.

Due to the model code of conduct for a long period, Mr Rao was not able to concentrate on the administration.

On the political front, in the Lok Sabha elections some ministers were not able to get a majority of votes in their constituencies. Mr Rao will tell the ministers that the honeymoon is over and they should concentrate on the party and the administration. He will direct the ministers and MLAs to spend more time with the people.