Winning Congress MLAs will be shifted to Park Hyatt hotel
What's the story
In Telangana, winning MLAs of the Congress will be moved to Hyderabad's Park Hyatt hotel, a member of the grand old party has confirmed, TNM reports. The counting of votes of Assembly elections started at 8 AM on Tuesday and early trends suggest Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will return to power. Notably, KCR had dissolved the assembly months before the tenure ended.
Trends
TRS is leading in 83 seats, KCR on for another-term
At the time of press, TRS was leading in 85 seats, Congress+ in 22 and BJP in 6. The Congress is part of People's Front alliance which also consists of TDP, TJS, and CPI. Before the crucial election counting day, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi said TRS will form the government on its own. This was the first election after Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh.
Plan
Fearing poaching by TRS, Congress plans to move MLAs
Despite the picture being somewhat clear, Congress is not taking chances in case of hung assembly. Dr. Sravan Dasoju, Congress candidate for Khairatabad said the MLAs are being moved to a hotel to prevent 'poaching' by the TRS. Congress has told its leaders to move for the hotel if trends bring some good news. The local workers have been asked to collect winning certificates.
Backup
A helicopter is at standby, could ferry passengers
Unwilling to take any chances, Congress has also booked a hotel in Bengaluru for backup and a helicopter is on standby at a secret location in Karnataka. The aircraft could ferry MLAs if required. "They are also thinking of booking rooms in a resort near Bengaluru for back up," the daily quoted a source. At the center of this plans is Congress-minister DK Shivakumar.
DK Shivakumar
The man who won Karnataka for Congress, becomes Telangana in-charge
It should be remembered that after Karnataka elections earlier this year, Shivakumar swung to action to ensure the flock of Congress leaders stood together. After Congress didn't win a respectable number of seats it stitched a post-poll alliance with JD(S). He was sent to Telangana by the party high command to stop any rebellion and quell the anger of leaders who were denied tickets.