Despite exit polls, KCR confident of scoring a hat-trick

Hyderabad, Dec 1: Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President K. Chandrasekhar Rao is confident of retaining power, though most of the exit polls have given an edge to the opposition Congress.

As some BRS leaders called on him at Pragati Bhavan, his official residence, a day after the polling, he advised them not to get worried over the exit polls.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, told the BRS leaders to wait for a couple of days as the actual result will be in favour of the party.

His decision to convene the state Cabinet meeting on December 4 is also being seen as an indication that he does not give much importance to the exit polls and that he is confident of scoring a hat-trick as the Chief Minister.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, KCR will preside over the Cabinet meeting to be held at 2 p.m. on December 4 at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar secretariat.

Telangana went to polls on Thursday and the counting of votes is scheduled to be taken up on Sunday.

Meanwhile, BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao posted on ‘X’ that after a long time he had a peaceful sleep.

"Exit polls can take a hike. Exact polls will give us good news", he wrote with the hashtag TelanganaWithKCR.

Calling exit polls "nonsense" and "rubbish", KTR, as Rama Rao is called, had on Thursday exuded confidence that his BRS will retain power, winning more than 70 seats in the 119-member Assembly to come to power for a third consecutive term.

He also slammed the Election Commission for allowing exit polls to be published when voters were still standing in queues to cast their votes.

Referring to 2018 exit polls, he said only one agency had got it right. TRS (now BRS) was given 48-66 seats by four others but it went on to bag 88 seats.

"The real poll will come out on December 3. Those who are trying to confuse Telangana voters are in for a huge surprise. Exit polls are not new. I promise those who are fans of BRS and want KCR to come back and run the state that we will come back with 70 plus seats. Just wait and watch," he added.