By-polls for 12 seats in Telangana before Aug 30

Elections to 12 assembly seats in Tealngana will be held before August 30, according to Chief Election Commissioner V Sampath on Monday.  The election commissioner who was here to take part in a program said the by elections in the State would be completed before  August 30.

By elections to the 12 Assembly segments in Telangana  was necessitated as 10 MLAs from Telangana Rashtra Samiti  quit the State Assembly in order to pressurise the Centre to carve out a separate state.  One MLA from the Telugu Desam and one from the BJP also resigned, forcing the by election, but others backed out at the last moment.

The elections are crucial for TRS  because a loss of one or two seats will have a tremendous impact on the Telangana outcome.

The Centre has constituted the Srikrishna Committee to seek the opinion of political parties and people on the Telangana issue, but the outcome of the polls will have its own impact.

The by-polls are also crucial for the main opposition TDP, whose chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has roped in actor sons and grandsons of party founder N.T. Rama Rao in his efforts to return to power.