New Delhi: The vociferous campaigning in Telangana ahead of the assembly polls hit a new low as caretaker CM K Chandrasekhar Rao called his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu “a mental.” War of words between the two leaders is not new, but on Sunday while addressing a public meeting KCR resorted to name-calling for the Andhra CM labeling him as “mental” and “cheat.”

Rao slammed Chandrababu Naidu for once saying that goats should be banned from grazing in order to save forests. "I say Chandrababu is a mental. Why? Because he had once said goats should be banned in order to save the forests (by preventing grazing). When was the goat born (the species came into existence) and when was he born? Who are you to ban the goat, a creation of nature?” KCR was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Lashing out at the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Supremo, KCR said: “Why did he fail in building Amaravati (the upcoming capital of Andhra Pradesh)? Except graphic representations, no real building has come up there.”

"These kind of cheats are coming to you, seeking votes. If we are not careful, we will be cheated," he said in a scathing attack on the People's Front alliance of the Congress, TDP, Telangana Jana Samithi and CPI.

He told people that many parties will come and say many things. He urged them to listen to them and think once abefore casting the vote," he said. He claimed that the power situation in Telangana had improved drastically since 2014, but it would worsen again if his party lost in the upcoming polls.

At a public meeting at Devarkadra, Rao alleged that Naidu had filed 35 court cases and "written 40 letters", opposing the irrigating projects in Telangana, and now, he was seeking votes in the state.

The 119-member Telangana Assembly will go to the polls on December 7 and the results will be announced on December 11.

(with inputs from PTI)