BRS meet: KCR targets two birds with one stone- national image, counter dissidence

Hyderabad: With the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) first public meeting in Khammam on Wednesday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao aims to step on to the national platform while not losing sight of the local pressure points for the party.

The BRS meet at Khammam town will see Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and CPI's D Raja sharing the dais with KCR.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy who has been supporting KCR’s foray into national politics could not attend the BRS meet, due to his ongoing Pancharatna Rath Yatra (statewide tour) in Karnataka, and the same has been communicated to Telangana, his office said.

The TRS party (before transforming into BRS) secured only one seat out 10 in the undivided Khammam District which also has considerable presence of Left parties. The Congress won seven while Telugu Desam Party got two seats in 2018 polls. However, six of the congress and two of the TDP members switched over to TRS.

According to political analyst Telakapalli Ravi, Rao also needs to build a national image to take on the might of BJP such as Home Minister Amith Shah and party president JP Nadda.

“We can call this an initial achievement. BRS’s working ground and stronghold is Telangana. So winning the next Assembly polls is the foremost task for the party. So this fillip will help it,” Ravi told PTI.

Rao aims to bolster his national political outreach with the presence of these leaders. KCR will intensify his anti-BJP crusade from the Khammam meeting. Besides, he will also sound the poll bugle for the elections in the state, scheduled to be held at the end of this year, Prof K Nageshwar former MLC and political analyst said.

Interestingly, the BRS is facing serious internal dissension. Khammam strongman and former Lok Sabha MP Srinivas Reddy is all set to leave the BRS to join the saffron party, he further said.