KCR to kickstart BRS bus yatras from Miryalaguda in Telangana from 24 April

Also Read: BRS gets a taste of its ‘defection pill’ as Congress spreads wings across Hyderabad

The plan

BRS is planning to make the bus yatra a major show of strength. A huge convoy of vehicles is expected to follow the former chief minister’s bus yatra to build public opinion that the party was still a major force to reckon with despite its defeat in the Assembly elections late last year.

BRS workers are planning to organise a grand reception for the yatra as it enters towns and cities in the state.

Party leaders said that the roadshows would comply with the rules of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that is in force due to the Lok Sabha elections.

They added that they would get clearance from the Election Commission of India (ECI) for all its programmes to enlist the support of the people for BRS.

The members of the party’s youth and student wings are expected to play a major part in making the arrangements for the bus yatra.

The strategy

KCR now has an unenviable task ahead of him since the party is fighting a losing battle in retaining its leaders.

The day after KCR said 20 Congress MLAs were in touch with him, he faced a fusillade of attack from the grand old party.

One BRS MLA showed signs of joining Congress by meeting the chief minister. Though he said he changed his mind, the fact remained that the sword of Damocles was hanging precariously on BRS’ head.

KCR is doubling down on his resolve to salvage whatever remains of the party in Telangana and give a fight to Congress. He is keen on being in the driver’s seat and showing the people it is not the size of the person but the size of the fight in him that matters.

He is keen on making every possible effort to gain an upper hand and change the perception game in its favour.

Also Read: Despite KCR’s best efforts, BRS leaders keep leaving the party

Taking on Congress

In his bus yatra, the former chief minister will mostly conduct roadshows in the Assembly segments of Lok Sabha constituencies along with the party nominees and local leaders.

KCR has already set the ball rolling for his election campaign with his farmers’ outreach programmes and a couple of election rallies.

The last election rally KCR addressed was in Chevella on 13 April, where he asked voters to be wiser than they were in November last year when they voted for Congress.

“The people fell for the tall promises made by Congress then. Do not walk into its trap once again,” he advised them, adding that they were now paying the price in the form of a lack of water supply to farms where crops were drying up.

The former chief minister thus indicated the line he would be taking in the campaign in his bus yatras — taking Congress to task and advising the people against voting for it in the Lok Sabha elections.

He has also hinted to the party leaders that they should play up how the Revanth Reddy government was giving a silent burial to the Dalit Bandhu scheme, which he had brought in when he was the chief minister.

KCR is expected to interact with a wide cross-section of society — women, farmers, minorities, Dalits, and the youth.

This is a different KCR, as he was not seen sitting with people and listening to them in the past. Even on rare occasions when he spent time with the people, it was mostly his harangue rather than a two-way conversation.

(Edited by Arkadev Ghoshal)