Hyderabad: Ripples of excitement enveloped the Telangana Rashtra Samiti over internal communication that the party supremo and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is set for a 2001 redux — the launch of the TRS and a mission — by launching the Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS) on October 5, the auspicious occasion of Vijayadasami.
Chandrashekar Rao, who defied the odds in 2002 to spearhead the Telangana formation movement — and succeeded in both, by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh and bringing his party to power twice — is now set to foray into national politics, unfazed by naysayers or the coalition of opposition leaders who declared on Sunday at an event in Haryana that there would be a single front against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP in 2024. “On the day Hindus across the world will celebrate the victory of good over evil, CM KCR will launch the BRS, a new national party. It will retain the flag of the TRS, the pink colour and the car symbol. The TRS, as a party, would cease to exist after October 5, and the BRS would be the name of the party that would contest Assembly elections next year,” a senior party leader said.
Amid efforts by regional and non-BJP national parties to stitch together an alliance to take on the BJP, the BRS will look to contest elections in other states as well. “We will form a party that would contest the Lok Sabha seats in Telangana state, Maharashtra, Karnataka and a few other states. We will study all the Lok Sabha seat profiles and research keenly to identify the best 150-160 seats to make a political debut,” the leader said. The leader said the party is confident of securing sufficient votes to be recognised as a national party after the 2024 elections. “The BRS will decide who will be the next Prime Minister of India, and redefine the contours of India’s politics and future.”
However, sources indicated that the BRS might not enter Andhra Pradesh.
Following the formal launch of the party on Dasara, a mega national meeting is likely to be held in the Hindi heartland, in Lucknow, Patna or New Delhi. “The meeting will herald the magical moment when CM KCR, who has tested the waters and his ideas for the last 12 months, will present his agenda to the country,” the leader said. The BRS will take up issues of agrarian crisis, dwindling prospects of farmers, unemployment, inflation, social justice, atrocities against sections of people and assault on democratic institutions as key national issues.
