The campaign includes door-to-door outreach, social media drives, and public meetings to remind voters of initiatives like the Rythu Bandhu scheme, Dalit Bandhu, and BC welfare programs.
Published Aug 11, 2025 | 10:49 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 11, 2025 | 10:49 AM
BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao addresses a rally at Karimnagar on Tuesday, 12 March, 2024. (Supplied)
Synopsis: The BRS in Telangana is organising a BC Garjana rally in Karimnagar, highlighting the issue of BRS reservation, to win over the community. The party hopes to gain an upper hand over the ruling Congress and the BJP. However, the BRS faces an unexpected challenge from within.
With Telangana’s political landscape heating over the contentious issue of Backward Classes (BC) reservations in Telangana, the BRS is trying to beat the Congress and the BJP at their own game at its rescheduled BC Garjana rally in Karimnagar on 14 August.
Initially slated for 8 August, the event was postponed due to heavy rainfall and a packed social calendar amid the ongoing wedding season in the state.
The rally is poised to be a seminal moment for the BRS, as it seeks to reclaim its position as the champion of BC rights while navigating internal conflicts and countering aggressive moves by the ruling Congress and the BJP.
The BC Garjana rally appears to be the fulcrum for BRS’ revamped campaign to demand a 42 percent reservation for BCs in education, employment, and local body elections. This demand has gained currency in recent weeks, as caste-based reservations have emerged as a defining issue in Telangana’s political discourse.
BRS is seeking to increase pressure for the BC quota legislation to be placed under the IXth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, a move that would protect it from judicial scrutiny. This is where the party intends to call what it perceives as the Congress’s bluff of lacking sincerity in providing reservations for the BCs. The BRS is also trying to pin the BJP down for “escaping from its responsibility” by not facilitating the clearance of the two bills in Delhi.
The BC Garjana Rally is expected to draw thousands of supporters, particularly from rural Telangana, where caste identity and social justice issues resonate deeply. By mobilising BC communities, the BRS aims to project strength and reassert its relevance in a state where it has been out of power since the Congress’s victory in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The BRS is using the rally to directly challenge the ruling Congress, accusing it of failing to deliver on its pre-election commitments to BC communities. Central to this critique is the Congress’s Kamareddy Declaration, a set of promises unveiled during the 2023 election campaign that included enhanced BC reservations and welfare measures.
Nearly two years into its tenure, the Congress government is yet to implement key aspects of the declaration.
“The Congress promised the moon to BC voters, but the Kamareddy Declaration remains on paper till date,” said BRS working president KT Rama Rao during a preparatory meeting for the rally. He said the BRS will hold the Congress accountable to ensure BC communities get the justice they deserve.”
This narrative is the key plank of BRS’s strategy to regain lost ground among BC voters, who form a significant portion of Telangana’s electorate. The party is banking on the rally to amplify its message and expose what it calls the Congress’s “betrayal” of marginalised communities.
While the BRS leadership is focused on consolidating its BC outreach, it faces an unexpected challenge from within. BRS MLC K Kavitha, daughter of party supremo and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), has launched her own high-profile campaign on BC reservations, creating ripples within the party. Kavitha’s “42% BC Quota Now” slogan, coupled with her call for a separate Muslim quota delinked from the BC category, appears to be getting traction.
Her recent actions, including a public fast to highlight the BC cause, have put the BRS leadership in a delicate position. While Kavitha’s campaign has energised the party’s base, it has also sparked concerns among senior leaders that she is carving out an independent political identity, potentially overshadowing the party’s official narrative.
Insiders suggest that the BC Garjana rally is, in part, an effort by the BRS top brass to reassert control over the BC agenda and prevent Kavitha from dominating the discourse. Her attempts to mend fences with her brother and BRS Working President KT Rama Rao seemed not to have led anywhere. She tried to meet him on Raksha Bhandhan Day on Saturday to tie rakhi, but he was out of the station.
To bolster its outreach, the BRS is launching a parallel grassroots campaign titled “Appude Manchiga Unde” (Back Then, Life Was Better). The campaign seeks to evoke nostalgia for KCR’s tenure as chief minister (2014–2023), highlighting welfare schemes, infrastructure projects, and BC-friendly policies implemented during BRS rule.
By contrasting these achievements with the Congress government’s record, the BRS aims to rebuild trust among rural voters, particularly in BC-dominated constituencies.
The campaign includes door-to-door outreach, social media drives, and public meetings to remind voters of initiatives like the Rythu Bandhu scheme, Dalit Bandhu, and BC welfare programs.
The BC Garjana rally is being seen as more than a show of strength for the BRS. It is a critical test of the party’s ability to navigate a rapidly evolving political landscape. With the Congress struggling to deliver on its BC promises, the BJP carving out its own narrative, the BRS faces a challenge.
In Telangana’s high-stakes caste politics, the BC vote is a prize that no party can afford to ignore. For the BRS, the Karimnagar rally is a chance to reclaim its mantle as the voice of the backwards classes.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
