KCR announces Bharat Rashtra Samithi to fulfil national aspirations

At the general body meeting of the TRS at Telangana Bhavan, KCR read out the unanimous resolution that the TRS had become the BRS as former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy honoured him with a shawl amidst slogans of “Desh Ke Neta Zindabad” and fireworks outside the Telangana Bhavan, reflecting the mood of the party workers.

The resolution read: “…The general body unanimously resolved to change Telangana Rashtra Samithi to BRS to expand its activities nationwide.”

TRS President and CM Sri K Chandrashekar Rao has read out the unanimous decision of party's General Body to change the name of the party from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). pic.twitter.com/9o93wldYYe

— BRS Party (@BRSparty) October 5, 2022

Going national

As soon as the TRS metamorphosed into the BRS, the party sent a communication to the Election Commission of India, intimating it of the change of the name as approved by the general body of the TRS.

Rao is known to the people of Telangana as a fighter for the Telangana state and then the leader of the state as its chief minister.

Now, he is positioning himself as a national leader to take on the BJP, which he considers a threat to the national secular fabric as it wears religious bigotry on its sleeve.

After the general body meeting attended by 283 delegates, Telangana Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said the Telangana model of development and KCR’s thought processes were needed for the nation as, in the last eight years of Narendra Modi’s rule, there were only promises and no action.

“The Telangana model will be a template for development for the entire nation. Under KCR’s leadership, BRS will create new history,” he said.

The change of name of the party signified the end of the 21-year-old Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TS), as it had outlived its purpose — securing statehood for Telangana and then putting the state on the road to development, as the TRS leaders claim.

What lies ahead?

The party is yet to announce how its set would be. In all probability, KCR’s son and Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao would be named the president of the BRS Telangana unit as KCR would be its national president.

As the BRS, it has now acquired the character of a national party, intent on capturing the imagination of the teeming millions of the youth, farmers, students, women and several disadvantaged sections of society.

The BRS is now looking beyond Vindhyas to gather opposition to bring down the towering Narendra Modi in what might turn out to be an epic battle in 2024.

Having rolled the dice to play an important role at the national level, KCR is now preparing to work on his new party’s philosophy and ideology for showing a new direction to the nation to move to achieve inclusive growth and prosperity for all sections.

Though it is not officially out, indications are that KCR would use the Telangana model of development as the fulcrum for his attempts to reach out to the people in other states. He had already announced that the next government would be the farmers‘, and that power supply to the farm wells would be free like in Telangana.

He has often said that he would want a concerted effort to use the nation’s bountiful natural resources for its growth which had been neglected by “myopic” leaders of the successive governments.

In fact, KCR had toyed with the idea of cobbling together a credible coalition at the national level in 2018 with parties that were against the BJP and the Congress, but the momentum soon fizzled out and finally died as Modi emerged like a supernova in the 2019 general election.

On Wednesday, all roads led to Telangana Bhavan. The day began on a festive note, with the TRS making preparations for what it considered a historic moment. The entire road from Pragati Bhavan to Telangana Bhavan was decorated with flex boards, hoardings, and banners with images of KCR.

Men and women of all ages lined up along the road greeting the chief minister as his convoy moved to the Telangana Bhavan at about noon. He was accompanied by Kumaraswamy and several other leaders from other states.

After daybreak, KCR offered poojas at Nalla Pochamma temple along with his wife and family members. Later, he performed pooja to a jammi tree and distributed its leaves to all those who accompanied him. Even later, he performed Ayudha pooja.