CAMPAIGNING FOR November 30 elections in Telangana ended on Tuesday with Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K Chandrashekar Rao addressing a public meeting at Gajwel, one of the two the constituencies he is contesting from, and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attending rallies and roadshows in Hyderabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah did not address any public meetings, but Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputy Devendra Fadnavis and BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra addressed rallies at various places in the state. Speaking at Gajwel’s 'Praja Ashirvada Sabha', KCR said during the Telangana movement he had taken a resolve that he would either die trying or succeed in ensuring a separate state of Telangana. “Siddipet was my bastion during the Telangana movement but Gajwel became my bastion after it elected me as MLA and sent me as the first CM of the state. I crossed a lot of hurdles with the hope to see a better future for Telangana. I thank the people of Gajwel for giving me the opportunity to serve them and hope to continue receiving their blessings,” he said. The CM, who kick-started the BRS campaign on October 15, has addressed 97 rallies in as many constituencies. The BRS and the Congress traded accusations over the Election Commission's decision to withdraw the permission to disburse 'Rythu Bandhu' funds, citing the model code of conduct. The BRS government was to disburse the money to nearly 64 lakh farmers this Rabi season. The Congress, on the other hand, is deflecting the blame by stating that the BRS violated the model code of conduct by making public announcements about the disbursement. Addressing an election rally at Nampally here, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the RSS, Modi and “hardliners” have “spread hatred in the entire country and to put an end to hatred to it the BJP needs to be defeated at the Centre”. —With PTI inputs
