Confusion looms over KCR’s new national party structure

Another point being discussed within the TRS is whether the BRS has any space in national politics and whether KCR’s leadership will be accepted in other states, especially in the north.

As Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is getting ready for the launch of a national party, uncertainty looms large over the structure and composition of the new political outfit.

According to experts, KCR’s proposed BRS can be a consortium of various like-minded parties including TRS, organisations like Jan Suraj of Prashant Kishor and Bharatiya Kisan Union of Rakesh Tikait, and even individuals including retired bureaucrats. (HT Photo)

Though initial reports from the TRS said the chief minister would hold the state executive meeting of the party on Sunday to adopt a resolution on floating the new national party, tentatively named Bharata Rashtriya Samithi (BRS), no such meeting was held.

“The chief minister is still undertaking a lot of brainstorming with close confidants to finalise the modalities of the national party and analyse its prospects. In all probability, the executive committee meeting will take place next week to formally announce the launch of the BRS,” a senior TRS leader privy to the development said.

KCR, as the chief minister is called, has given a lot of clarity to his national agenda. “Bringing about a qualitative change in the governance, uniform agriculture and industrial policies across the country, optimisation of irrigation resources and upholding the federal spirit of the Constitution and safeguarding the secular fabric of the country,” said people aware of the developments.

The party leaders, however, are still confused over the structure and identity of the proposed BRS.

“There are a lot of questions that need to be answered about the BRS. The fundamental question is whether the BRS will be a separate party or the TRS will be transformed into the BRS,” a TRS leader said.

According to him, the name ‘TRS’ has given an identity to the party in the last 21 years, as it was founded on the plank of self-respect of the people of Telangana, who had suffered during the combined Andhra Pradesh regime for more than five decades.

“If he disbands the TRS and converts it into BRS, the party will lose this identity in the state. The TRS leaders, including KCR, will lose the right to talk about Telangana sentiment, its cultural and historical significance, and injustice was done to it during the combined regime,” the above-cited leader said.

Political analyst and former legislative council member K Nageshwar said KCR has no option but to wind up the TRS if he is floating the BRS. “He cannot run two parties – one in the state and another at the national level. If he does so, will the BRS not contest the elections in Telangana? Moreover, KCR is saying that he will implement the Telangana development agenda across the nation. So, the TRS has to be part of the BRS,” he said.

Nageshwar further indicated that KCR might go in for a consortium model for his national party – like the Janata Party experiment in 1977. Though the Janata Party was registered as a separate national party, it was an amalgamation of various independent political parties, including Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Janata Morcha, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Swatantra Party and Socialist Party.

“So, KCR’s proposed BRS can also be a consortium of various like-minded parties including TRS, organisations like Jan Suraj of Prashant Kishor and Bharatiya Kisan Union of Rakesh Tikait and even individuals including retired bureaucrats. But it is too early to say how it will shape up,” Nageshwar said.

Another point being discussed within the TRS is whether the BRS has any space in national politics and whether KCR’s leadership will be accepted in other states, especially in the north.

The TRS leader quoted above said KCR has abundant confidence that the BRS would get a good response in the states where the opposition is weak, and the people are not able to find an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “He has been in touch with important leaders in various states, where there is a scope for the BRS to grow. Several leaders are in touch with him,” he said.

Nageshwar said a new political party has to create its own space and try to grow. “When the TRS was founded in the combined Andhra Pradesh in 2001, there was no political space for it, as the Congress and the TDP were strong. But it has now grown into a powerful regional party. Similarly, when the YSR Congress party was floated in 2011, it had created its own space and could come to power eight years later. So, the BRS, too, will find takers, if not immediately but in future,” he said.

Former Congress parliamentarian from Rajahmundry, Vundavalli Arun Kumar, said KCR could attract the people across the country and provide an effective alternative to the BJP. “He is an effective communicator. In fact, a much better communicator than West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. He has command over English, Urdu and Hindi; he can articulate well in any part of the country,” Kumar said.

The TRS leader said, in the last eight years, KCR had become a popular leader in the neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. “There have been representations from the people in the border areas of these states seeking for the merger of their areas with Telangana so that they would get the benefits of welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima and Dalit Bandhu,” he said.

The interesting point, however, is whether the people of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh would accept KCR’s leadership, as they are still suffering from the pangs of bifurcation of the combined state for which they hold him responsible.

Moreover, Telangana is still fighting with Andhra Pradesh on several issues – like Krishna River and Godavari River water sharing, financial disputes and other bifurcation-related issues. “If KCR’s party contests the elections in Andhra, he will have to answer the people on bifurcation and also issues of inter-state dispute,” the TRS leader said.

Political analyst Sriram Karri, however, said it is unlikely that KCR’s party will contest the elections in Andhra Pradesh. “If he does that, he may have to face the same fate as Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu in the 2018 assembly elections in Telangana. Naidu was swept away by the wave of Telangana sentiment. So, in Andhra, it will be an anti-Telangana sentiment that will hit KCR if he contests there,” he said.

In any case, Karri said, Telangana will go to assembly elections in 2023 whereas the elections in Andhra will be held in 2024, along with general elections. “KCR’s first objective, whether in the form of TRS or BRS, is to win the assembly elections in Telangana. If he loses the polls, all the other issues like BRS fighting the national elections or in Andhra Pradesh will become irrelevant,” he said.