Telangana CM KCR presents his govt's progress report at TRS rally, no announcement on early polls

Sep 2 (AZINS) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday addressed a massive rally, dubbed by his party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as the biggest ever public meeting held in India. The 'Pragati Nivedana Sabha' (meeting to report progress) at Kongara Kalan on the outskirts of Hyderabad saw Rao speaking on the progress made in various sectors during the last four years.

TRS sources said the rally, held in Rangareddy district's Kongara Kalan, was attended by 25 lakh people.

The rally by the ruling TRS was held amid speculation about the possibility of early polls to the Telangana Legislative Assembly. Legislative Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls next year. However, it is being speculated that the TRS government may opt for early polls on the presumption that there is a positive mood among people on the government.

While there were speculations that KCR might announce early polls in Telangana, the Chief Minister made no such announcement. A meeting of the state cabinet held ahead of the public meeting also did not reach a decision on early polls.

The Chief Minister, however, said that the TRS members have given him the authority to take such a decision.

"Some media channels are saying KCR will dissolve the govt. All TRS members have given me an opportunity to take a decision on the future of Telangana. I will tell you when I take a decision," he said.

Ahead of the TRS rally, Telangana minister and KCR's son, KT Rama Rao, said that the public meeting would be the biggest ever held in India.

"The turnout in this rally is going to be something that people will remember for a long time, it is going to be the biggest political rally ever held in India," Rao, Telangana's IT and Municipal Administration Minister, said.

Earlier, the meeting faced massive disruption, thanks to heavy rains overnight. According to an NDTV report, carpets in front of the main podium and chairs were soaked in rainwater at the 2,000-acre venue with a video on social media showing a large poster of Telangana KCR crashing to the wet ground at night.

Here are the highlights of TRS' 'Pragati Nivedana Sabha' rally:

19:28 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao finishes his speech at TRS rally

19:27 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: For minorities, the Centre has allocated only Rs.4,600 crore in the budget for minorities development but Telangana Govt has allocated Rs.2,000 crore in the last budget: KCR

19:26 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: 10 years of Congress rule the revenue from sand mining was only Rs.9.6 crore sand mining, but in 4.6 years of TRS rule it has gone up to Rs.1,980 crore: KCR

19:25 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Rs 5,500 crore were given to farmers as input assistance for Kharif cultivation at Rs. 4,000 per acre, says Telangana CM KCR

19:24 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Rajya Sabha MP K. Keshava Rao to lead the manifesto committee of the TRS for the next elections, announces KCR

19:23 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Our government has started a large number of residential schools as part of KG to PG education to extend quality education to children of backward communities of the society, says KCR 

19:22 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: A poor father's grief that he is uanble to marry off his daughter due to financial problems had moved me forced me to think about the initiative of Kalayana Lakshmi which is one of the 76 schemes which we did not promise in our 2014 manifesto: KCR

19:20 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Rs. 4 per litre incentive is also being given to dairy farmers supplying milk to cooperative dairies in the State, says KCR

19:19 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Our Govt. has distributed 70 lakh sheep to sheep-rearing communities and now the sheep population has grown to over 1 crore: KCR

19:18 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Now we are able to provide some relief to weavers by giving them work and subsidies on raw material to improve their incomes, says KCR

19:17 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Suicides of handlooms weavers at Sircilla and Bhoodan Pochampally had disturbed me and in spite of my pleas to the then government no succour was provided to the community in distress: KCR

19:16 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: The seeds for Mission Kakatiya were sown during the movement days itself as myself, Prof. K. Jayashankar sir and irrigation expert late R. Vidayasagar Rao had long sessions of discussions on how to revive Telangana's basic irrigation sources — minor irrigation tanks: KCR

19:15 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: After achieving the Statehood and coming to power with the people's blessings it was a journey through the darkness in the first six months as we had no idea about our economy and needs, KCR says

19:09 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: I had to struggle hard to muster support of 36 parties at the national level by explaining the justification behind the separate State demand, says KCR

19:08 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: I had told those along with me in the initial days of the movement that the journey for Statehood to Telangana would gain the momentum along the course: KCR

19:07 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Then I started the movement for statehood for Telangana with a handful of people with me. Afterwards, it’s all history as every section of the Telangana society backed the movement for a separate Telangana: KCR

19:06 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: The then rulers did not heed to my request that it would harm the interests of Telangana farmers who largely depend on groundwater for irrigation: KCR

19:05 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: KCR says he opposed hike in power charges when he was in the Cabinet of N. Chandrababu Naidu way back in 2001.

18:41 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao addresses the rally after brief speeches by other party leaders

18:27 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao reaches rally venue

Glimpses from TRS rally:

17:40 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: People throng to TRS rally venue at Kongara Kalan

17:38 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: No decision on early polls in Telangana cabinet meeting, say reports

17:36 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018: Telangana minister KT Rama Rao and Kavitha Kalvakuntla interact with media