Talk of mid-term polls 'baseless': M Venkaiah Naidu

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today rubbished the rumours of mid-term elections as "baseless" and said the government will complete its full-term before going to polls in 2019.

" Mid-term poll talk either in the state or in the Centre according to me is baseless. It has no foundation. From where this rumour has come, I don't know. Our party president (Amit Shah) and even the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) have been asking our cadre and our government to work hard and prepare for 2019 elections. And that's our goal, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, told reporters in Hyderabad.

We have been given a mandate of five years and we will complete (the tenure) and go to polls in 2019. The mid-term poll talk has no basis according to me, he said.

Reacting to a query on categorisation of Scheduled Castes, the Union Minister said,  "The party is in favour of this. There is a need for discussion on the issue between states and the Centre before bringing an Act. The Union government is yet to finalise on to bring an Act for entire country or if the decision is to be left to the states as each states are having different issues with regard to categorisation."

On another query with regard to problems of chilli farmers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Venkaiah said, "I have spoken to Union Agriculture Minister in this regard. The Centre is ready to help to some extent...but the state governments should also take necessary measures to come to the rescue of farmers."