The alliance indicated of the realisation of the BRS leaders that their party was a monolith no more and needed support to remain relevant.
Published Mar 05, 2024 | 6:45 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 05, 2024 | 6:46 PM
Telangana BSP chief Praveen Kumar with BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday, 5 March, 2024. (Supplied)
In an interesting development, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has struck an electoral alliance with the BRS in Telangana to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Telangana BSP president RS Praveen Kumar called on BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao at the latter’s Nandi Nagar residence on Tuesday, 5 March, and decided to enter into a poll pact.
Interestingly, KCR was Praveen Kumar’s boss when the latter was in the Telangana government’s service.
He was an IPS officer and served as the secretary of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society and Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society.
It must have been a strange experience for him to discuss a political alliance sitting across the table with him.
కలిసి పని చేయాలని నిర్ణయించుకున్న బీఆర్ఎస్, బీఎస్పీ పార్టీలు
బీఆర్ఎస్ అధినేత కేసీఆర్ మరియు బీఎస్పీ రాష్ట్ర అధ్యక్షుడు ఆర్ఎస్ ప్రవీణ్ కుమార్ జాయింట్ ప్రెస్ మీట్ pic.twitter.com/qrv2hTF2eb
— BRS Party (@BRSparty) March 5, 2024
Though they have not decided on the seat-sharing formula yet, there is speculation that the BRS will leave the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha seat for Praveen Kumar to contest.
The BRS does not have a candidate there, as its sitting MP P Ramulu has left the party and joined the BJP. The saffron party has already announced his son Bharat’s name for the seat.
After their meeting, when a reporter asked whether Praveen Kumar would be contesting from Nagarkurnool, KCR countered by asking why not Peddapally, implying that he was not ready to spill the beans yet.
He said it had been decided in principle to have an alliance with the BSP. The nitty-gritty of seat-sharing would be decided in the next meeting after discussing the issue with BSP supremo Mayawati.
The alliance is expected to help the BRS more as it would prevent a possible split in the anti-Congress Dalit votes and thus help the pink party improve its prospects.
For Praveen Kumar, KCR’s image and the party’s network in the constituency that he would be contesting from would help brighten his chances of winning.
If he contests from Nagarkunrool, he would have to reckon with Mallu Ravi, who is raring to win the Lok Saha election from this constituency, riding the popularity wave of the Congress.
After the meeting, KCR said the BRS and the BSP shared the same vision for the amelioration of Dalits.
“We have a history of working for the betterment of the living standards of Dalits. The BRS had introduced Dalit Bandhu in the state for their economic empowerment,” said the former chief minister.
He said he would talk to Mayavati in a day or two to formalise the poll deal. “At today’s meeting, we discussed the broad contours of fighting the elections for Lok Sabha together. We have not got around to the seat-sharing exercise,” he said.
Praveen Kumar said that the BSP had decided to have a truck with the BRS since the latter’s secular credentials were impeccable.
“There is now a threat to the country’s secular fabric from the BJP. The Congress, too, is looking more like the BJP. In these circumstances, aligning with the BRS would be in the best interest of secularism in Telangana,” he said.
The development came as a surprise as it took place at a time when MPs and several civic body and local body leaders were leaving the BRS while the pink party MLAs were evincing a lot of interest in the Congress.
The striking of the alliance is also indicative of the realisation the BRS leaders had that their party was not the monolith that it had been, and might be in need of support — from whichever section it came — for it to remain afloat.
On Tuesday, Kale Yadaiah, the BRS MLA from Chevella, called on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy with his family members after Badrachalam legislator Tellam Venakta Rao paid a visit to him on Sunday.
Two BRS MPs — P Ramulu of Nagarkurnool and BB Patil of Zaheerabad — have already left the party for the BJP.
Another BRs MP, Venkatesh Nethakani of Peddapally, joined the ranks of the Congress recently.
Apparently, none of them saw any future for their growth in the BRS.
