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Telangana CM KCR mum, uncertainty looms over launch of national party
A Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader said chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) might take some more time as he was still deliberating with intellectuals and senior party leaders to prepare the constitution of the national party and the party philosophy, which is primarily based on agriculture and irrigation sectors
Uncertainty prevails over the launch of a national political party by Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) as an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, as there has been a stoic silence in the party on when it is going to happen.
Till a few days ago, the party leaders were talking about the official launch of the new national party – tentatively projected as “Bharata Rashtriya Samithi” (BRS) – on October 5, coinciding with Vijaya Dasami (Dasara), which is considered an auspicious day for the launch of any new venture.
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“However, there has no information about the chief minister till now about the launch of the party, though Dasara Navaratri festivities would be beginning on Monday. We are absolutely clueless on what is happening in Pragathi Bhavan (CM’s official bungalow) or his farmhouse at Erravelli,” a senior TRS leader, who preferred anonymity, said.
On September 9, the district TRS units were asked to hurriedly adopt resolutions requesting KCR to foray into national politics by launching the national party.
“The resolutions were sent to the state party office. We were given the impression that the chief minister would make an announcement any day after the completion of Pitru Paksha (the fortnight dedicated to forefathers) and most probably on Dasara. But so far, there has been no follow-up,” the party leader said.
He said KCR might take some more time as he was still deliberating with intellectuals and senior party leaders to prepare the constitution of the national party and the party philosophy, which is primarily based on agriculture and irrigation sectors.
“There are many other issues which need to be sorted out. The most important issue is the fallout of the probable merger of the TRS with the BRS which would result in foregoing the Telangana identity of the party for the sake of a broader national agenda,” the party leader said.
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Secondly, the election symbol of the TRS – “car” -- which has become more popular among the voters. The party leaders are wondering whether they would be able to retain the symbol if the TRS is merged with the BRS.
Thirdly, the BRS has to expand its footprints to other states if it has to be called a national party. “For that it has to decide in which states it can contest and where it would get the acceptability. Then, it has to set up party units in those states. For that he has to find strong leaders in such states who can establish the party network in these states,” the TRS leader said.
Any takers for KCR’s national party?
In the last two weeks, KCR held negotiations with two leaders – H D Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (U) in Karnataka on September 11 and Shankar Singh Vaghela, former chief minister of Gujarat, on September 16.
On both the occasions, there were statements from KCR’s office that they had appreciated his idea of launching a national party and requested him to take a lead in his fight against the BJP. But officially, neither Kumaraswamy nor Vaghela made any statement endorsing KCR’s national party plan.
Political analyst Sriram Karri said leaders like Kumaraswamy or Vaghela would hardly add any value to KCR’s national political ambition. “If KCR thinks he can launch a national alternative to the BJP by joining hands with these leaders who have lost their relevance in national politics, he is mistaken. Nobody will take him seriously,” he said.
On August 31, KCR had flown to Patna to meet Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to discuss the concept of “BJP-Mukth Bharat” but there was no talk about the launch of the national party by him.
Apparently, KCR was not happy with the way Nitish had responded to his proposal for a non-Congress, non-BJP coalition. After his return, a vernacular daily backed by the TRS wrote an article saying KCR might not accept Nitish as the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition coalition, as the latter wants the Congress to be part of it.
According to Karri, it appears KCR’s national party narrative appears to be aimed at preventing the BJP from wresting power from the TRS in the next assembly elections. “He is putting up the façade of the national party by projecting himself as the sole challenger to Modi, only to gain advantage in the next year’s assembly elections. If he returns to power in the assembly elections, it will give him legitimacy to fight against the BJP at the national level. But if he loses in the assembly polls, there will be no takers for his national party,” Karri added.
