Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched the campaign for the Telangana assembly elections scheduled for November 30. Shah's campaign began with a public meeting in Adilabad, followed by a convention of intellectuals in Hyderabad on Tuesday. During his visit, Shah is expected to meet with party leaders to discuss election strategies.
Addressing the rally in Adilabad, Shah took on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over the budget allocation during the UPA government for tribal welfare and said that the Modi government has increased the budget for the same.
"When elections come, Congress people come wearing new clothes. Rahul Gandhi has also started visiting here. I would like to ask him - when there was UPA Govt, in 2013-14 what was the budget for tribal welfare? Only Rs 24,000 Crores. By 2023-24, PM Modi increased the budget for tribal welfare to Rs 1,24,000 Crores," he said.
Shah also took a swipe at Chief Minister KCR and said that his only aim is to make his son, KTR, as the chief minister.
"The CM (K. Chandrashekar Rao) has just one goal - to make his son KTR the Chief Minister. Our goal is to provide employment and education to every tribal youth in Adilabad & water in the farms of farmers," he said.
The BJP in Telangana is optimistic that Amit Shah's visit will give a significant boost to its assembly polls campaign.
Previously, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in development programs and addressed rallies in Telangana, specifically in Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad, earlier this month. During his visit, Modi announced the establishment of a National Turmeric Board, a longstanding demand of turmeric farmers in Nizamabad, and a Central Tribal University in the state.
The establishment of a Central Tribal University was an assurance outlined in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. The BJP's campaign for the assembly polls is expected to involve the participation of several senior party leaders.
State to vote on November 30
The Election Commission has announced that the Telangana legislative assembly, comprising 119 members, will conduct elections on November 30, 2023. Telangana has a substantial voter base of over 3 crore, with an additional 17 lakh voters recently added to the voting list. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar shared that the Telangana elections will occur in a single phase.
Key dates for the Telangana assembly elections include the notification on November 3, the candidate nomination deadline on November 10, and the last date for candidate withdrawal on November 15.
Also read | Telangana Election Date: State to vote on November 30, results to be declared on December 3
Also read | Telangana Assembly polls will be 'one sided' in BRS' favour, KCR to score 'hat-trick': KTR
