Political parties switch to poll mode

Express News Service
First Published : 03 Mar 2009 04:42:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 03 Mar 2009 02:08:08 PM IST

HYDERABAD: Battle lines are drawn for the big-fight in the State. Leaders of all the parties are pulling up their socks for the poll-battle.

With the announcement of the election schedule for both the Lok Sabha and the State Assembly, all the political parties quickly got into poll mode today. Welcoming the poll schedule and expressing hope that the people would give mandate to their respective parties, State leaders of all the parties are gearing up their cadre for the grand final.

The election mood was clearly visible at respective party offices this evening with aspirants for tickets flocking them. Already all the parties launched the exercise to short-list the candidates.

Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy had already conducted review meetings for several Assembly segments.

The Grand Alliance which was dodging the seat-sharing issue till now, decided to speed up the process by ironing out the differences among the four parties. The Praja Rajyam did some exercise in finalising the candidates. The Lok Satta Party had already released names of candidates in two phases. The BJP also cleared the names for some Assembly and Lok Sabha seats.

The headquarters of various political parties were abuzz with activity from this evening.

At NTR Bhavan, the main Opposition Telugu Desam Party office, party chief N Chandrababu Naidu participated in the induction of the cultural troupe of the party. He welcomed two-phase elections in the State.

Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) chief Chiranjeevi who was touring Mahaboobnagar district said that the party would release its manifesto in the next four or five days.

However, the party was facing a problem with regard to a common symbol. Telangana Bhavan, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) office and Gandhi Bhavan, the State Congress office, too witnessed heavy activity.

Already, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BJP prime minister candidate LK Advani addressed meetings in the State. Several national leaders are likely to address the Grand Alliance public meeting this week.