After being in power for a decade in Telangana, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is facing its first major electoral and existential challenge that is likely to have an indefinite impact on its future, though it has survived threats posed at it in the 2006 byelections and 2009 elections.
As it stands at the crossroads, the party leadership has its task cut out — asserting that it is still very much a formidable force, and at the same time containing desertions to its arch-rival the Congress.
As the party that spearheaded the Telangana Statehood movement for 14 years, and winning two consecutive Assembly elections after the State’s formation, the BRS expects to do well in the Parliamentary elections irrespective of the threat posed by the Congress and BJP.
Party leader B. Vinod Kumar is confident of the party doing well in the coming election. “Ours is a movement-based party which transformed into a conventional political party, and we have a strong base both in rural and urban Telangana. Rival political parties have been trying to disintegrate us repeatedly since 2001, and we have survived every attempt with the support of the people. BRS is the only party that has Telangana’s interests as its top priority, unlike the two national parties (referring to the Congress and BJP). We will bounce back this time too,” he asserted.
Going by its performance in the December 2023 Assembly elections and on the basis of surveys, the BRS is expecting to do well in Nizamabad, Medak, Karimnagar, Nagarkurnool, Malkajgiri and Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituencies, according to party sources.
Further, the leadership is understood to be pinning hopes on Chevella, Warangal and Zaheerabad constituencies.
“Our calculations do not hinge on assumptions but rely on the ground situation, discontent among certain sections of the electorate and the failure of the Congress government in fulfilling some promises which were very much possible, and for which the Congress itself had set a timeline for their implementation,” sources said.
When pointed out that it has been only four months since the new government took over, former Minister T. Harish Rao said that “discontent was clearly visible among certain sections, whether one admits or not”.
“Four months may not be too long a time to judge the performance of a government, but the discontent stems from the repeated assurances given by the Congress leaders during the run-up to the Assembly elections. Ruling party leader M. Bhatti Vikramarka, who holds the portfolios of Finance and Energy, during the Assembly election campaign, said that they were making promises with the full understanding of the financial position of the State government,” Mr. Harish Rao said.
‘List of unkept promises is long’
“It was Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who while leading the Congress campaign for the Assembly polls had repeatedly asked the farming community to get agricultural loans if they did not do so until then. He had asserted that the first official act of the Congress government after coming to power would be to sign a loan waiver of ₹2 lakh per farmer from December 9 itself. The list of such unkept promises, which were supposed to be implemented within the first 100 days, is long,” Mr. Harish Rao said.
Despite some leaders leaving the party in search of greener pastures, the BRS has certain advantages in the form of a strong cadre-based organisation and several committed leaders, and a brewing discontent particularly among the farmers over large tracts of withering land due to lack of irrigation water.
On the other hand, the main challenges facing the party are rejuvenating a cadre base that is demoralised after losing the last Assembly elections, stemming an exodus of leaders from the party, and squaring off against a resurgent Congress and BJP.
