Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is understood to have changed his stand on the conduct of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies across the country.
KCR, who abstained from the Niti Aayog governing council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, has decided to keep from the all-party meeting to be conducted by the Modi government on Wednesday.
He, however, decided to send his son and TRS working president K T Rama Rao to the all-party meeting.
Last year, the TRS president extended full support to Modi’s idea of one-nation-one-election concept. In July 2018, he wrote a letter to the Law Commission of India stating that his party favoured simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
In his letter, KCR said the simultaneous polls would reduce the financial burden on the state government to a large extent and also on political parties who are forced to spend huge amounts for Lok Sabha and state assemblies separately.
He also pointed out that the development and welfare activities were coming to a grinding halt for a long time due to enforcement of model code of conduct separately for Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
However, KCR is learnt to have changed his mind now. He is said to be of the view that the BJP’s plan was to gain political advantage by holding simultaneous polls. He realised that the TRS could return to power in Telangana for a second term, only because he went for assembly elections separately in December.
“Had there been simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assembly, the TRS would have faced a difficult task, as Narendra Modi factor would have helped the BJP,” a TRS source said.