In bid to enter Madhya Pradesh poll arena, BRS backs small parties

Even though the BRS is not fighting the elections directly, the party is backing small, but significant regional parties in the upcoming assembly polls.

Updated on: Oct 12, 2023, 06:34:16 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Bhopal

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Even though the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), led by Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao are not fighting the elections directly, the party is backing small, but significant regional parties in the upcoming assembly polls. The party, that has long nursed national ambitions, even changing its name from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti to the BRS in 2022, and leaders said that they hoped the move would help Rao in the parliamentary elections slated for 2024.

The focus for the BRS is to back candidates of regional parties that have tribal and dalit vote caches such as the Jai Adiwasi Yuva Sangathan (JAYS), Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) and the Azad Samaj Party (ASP). The JAYS supported the Congress in 2018, winning one seat; the GGP fought in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and won one seat. The ASP will fight for the first time this year.

Anand Rai, known in Madhya Pradesh as the whistleblower in the Vyapam scam, who was inducted into the BRS in June this year told HT that senior leader and MLC K Kavitha was leading expansion plans. “In Madhya Pradesh, the BRS will not contest the elections or participate actively but will support regional parties by providing financial resources. A meeting will soon be held to iron out details about financial support. The BRS is looking to focus on tribals, Dalits and OBC’s in Madhya Pradesh,” Rai, who is coordinating talks between the JAYS and the BRS said.

Party leaders of the three regional parties confirmed to HT that they had held meetings with K Chandrashekar Rao in Hyderabad over the last month. Senior leaders of the JAYS, that fought one seat in alliance with the Congress in 2018, but will fight four seats, albeit through independents this time, said that they had met Rao to discuss ideologies. “As JAYS is yet to be registered as a political party, so four candidates, all chosen by people by holding panchayats, will be chosen. We met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to exchange ideologies and for support, but there are things to be finalised,” said Lokesh Mujalde, national president, JAYS.

Leaders of the GGP, that have already announced an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also said they had met the BRS supremo. GGP co-founder Ranjan Sarkhel refused to divulge any details but said, “It was a great meeting. BRS is not actively participating in the election so there was no alliance talk, but we discussed several issues.”

Senior leaders of the Azad Samaj Party, that has said it will contest 150 seats, said that party president Chandrashekhar Azad also met the Telangana chief minister in July this year.

While K Kavitha was unavailable for comment,BRS leader Shravan Dasoju said: “The BRS will extend all kinds of support to parties which will take the development model of Telangana, that will talk about the social and economic development of downtrodden, forward at the national level.”

One tribal leader involved in the negotiations said that the BRS hoped that if the smaller parties, like the JAYS or the GGP did well in the elections, it could be an entry point for the BRS in the general elections into the state.

“Though BRS is not directly participating in the assembly elections, they are surely looking forward to form a base before general election,” said a tribal leader, who didn’t wish to be named.

In MP, the rise of these regional parties could increase challenge for Congress by diverting their core tribal and scheduled caste votes.

The state has 47 seats reserved for scheduled tribes, and 35 seats reserved for scheduled castes, with their influence extending to several more. In these reserved seats in 2018, the Congress had won 30 of the tribal seats with the BJP bagging 17, while in the Scheduled Caste seats, the Congress had won 17 and the BJP 18.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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