Hyderabad, Nov 08: Amidst strong indications of early assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the state cabinet began its crucial meeting today to consider the snap poll option and to give its nod of approval to a string of administrative sanctions. The unscheduled weekend cabinet meeting is widely seen in political circles as the beginning of a process leading to early polls with ruling TDP leaders veering towards the view that this is the 'most opportune time' to seek a fresh mandate on sympathy plank in the aftermath of recent Naxalite attack on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The cabinet meeting, advanced by a week, is expected to approve a host of welfare measures including distribution of fresh ration cards and house sites to the poor, transfer of additional powers to local bodies, sops for agricultural power consumers and reduction of interest rate on co-operative loans.
Though a formal announcement on dissolution of assembly is not expected to come today, the issue is set to dominate the proceedings of the meeting being held amidst an air of expectancy over imminent polls.
Lending weight to speculation over early polls, Naidu had switched over to a welfare mode unveiling a series of sops and infusing a sense of urgency into implementation of the ongoing welfare programmes.
Bureau Report