Hyderabad: There is no end to the euphoria within the TRS over party president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s decision to launch a national political outfit, whose name supposedly has been finalised as Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS), despite the TRS leaders and cadre now having to look for answers to various questions they have been facing from other parties initially, and eventually the electorate in the next elections.
These questions vary from those on the continuance of the 21-year-old TRS after the BRS is formed, to the basic mathematical equation of converting the party’s present tally of nine seats in the Lok Sabha to the magic figure of 272 seats and provide an alternative to the Modi-led NDA government at the Centre. Other questions were on the party’s agenda for the 2023 Assembly polls and its approach towards other regional parties in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Party leaders expect that the state executive committee meeting scheduled for June 18 and 19 will provide them some clarity.
The TRS also dropped first hints that Chandrashekar Rao’s national political journey would be a long-term affair, if the views expressed by party MLC T. Bhanu Prasada Rao at a TV debate were to be believed. “We are not saying that KCR’s agenda could be implemented overnight,” he said even as the political rivals dubbed the narrative as an attempt divert the people’s attention from the burning local issues.
As of now, all that the TRS leaders have been speaking of is the magical ability of Chandrashekar Rao to make anything possible, as happened in the case of statehood for Telangana. The party incidentally has found a die-hard fan of Chandrashekar Rao’s ability in former Congress MP Vundavilli Aruna Kumar, who extended his support to the CM after meeting the latter on Sunday. A staunch integrationist, Aruna Kumar recently got a shot in the arm with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear his petition challenging the state bifurcation through the AP Reorganisation Act.
While TRS MLA Balka Suman announced that Chandrashekar Rao’s moves to form a national alternative had sent shivers down the spine of Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Shah, minister V. Srinivas Goud, who was in the temple town of Tirumala on Monday, said none believed that Telangana state would be a reality when the TRS chief took the first step in the T movement.
The TRS leaders were also eager to find out the reaction of the electorate to the very idea of Chandrashekar Rao becoming Prime Minister. “We are also clueless on how the BRS would garner a considerable number of seats and make a pitch for forming government at the Centre,” said an MLA adding that it would be more convincing if Chandrashekar Rao talked of a front on the lines of United Front which had provided Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu an opportunity to become Prime Minister.
They also wanted the TRS to be continued in Telangana after floating the BRS as the party has been popular with the voters for the last 21 years. Changing the party name and flag when Assembly polls might make connecting with the voters difficult.
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