It is natural for any political party to survive in politics for a long time without losing its identity. Moreover, a party that claims to be responsible for changing the political history of a particular region is not likely to lose its existence. That party is none other than the BRS, earlier known as the TRS. BRS President K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is now witnessing a family feud due to the conflicting aspirations of his children.
After the BRS scored a big zero in last year’s Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, there were unconfirmed reports that the BRS favoured the BJP by shifting its votes in some seats where its prospects were ‘doubtful.’ At that time, there was probably only one thing on the BRS leadership’s mind, and that was that the Congress shouldn’t gain from the triangular political fight.
Why did the BRS target the Congress? The Congress and the TRS worked together for achieving the state of Telangana, and jointly contested the 2004 LS polls for creating the T-state. After continuing in the Congress-led UPA government both at the Centre and in the state, the TRS walked out of the alliance, saying that the Congress is not committed to creating TG. But a decade later, the Congress positively responded towards the demand for a TG state, at the end of its tenure in 2014, to realise its dream of UPA-3. But the Congress plans crashed, and it lost the 2014 LS polls, paving the way for the Modi era.
But the TRS managed to win the hearts of TG by winning a majority. Thus, KCR became the first Chief Minister of TG. After completing a decade in power, KCR faced rough weather during his third Assembly election. At last, the Congress got its chance.
Now the BRS is crossing swords with the Congress, with whose help it got the credit of achieving TG. During his rule in Telangana, KCR preferred to criticise the BJP-led NDA government headed by Modi and kept the Congress away.
The question is, why is the BRS targeting the Congress and adopting a soft policy towards the BJP? The BRS has to defeat the Congress in the next Assembly elections to regain power. Although the BJP is growing in TG, it may not be possible for it to defeat the Congress on its own. It has to get the support of another party, and that is none other than the BRS.
It’s not new for KCR to get close to the BJP. There is a saying in politics that an organisation cannot grow if it sticks to a particular party. In Tamil Nadu, arch rivals DMK and AIADMK shifted their loyalties to the Congress and the BJP respectively during election time. Both parties had shared power with the Congress and the BJP at the Centre.
Likewise, KCR also shook hands with both the parties. His party has tied up with other political groups too. In 2009, KCR aligned himself with the Mahakutami (grand alliance) headed by the TDP. Its leader Chandrababu Naidu eulogised KCR during the election. But the very next day KCR attended a rally organised by the NDA, ignoring his own alliance.
Now the time seems to be ripe for the BRS to align with the BJP. The BRS has been slowly softening up towards the BJP since some time. It supported the BJP in the recent MLC elections. In the current political atmosphere in TG, there would be triangular contests. This might be detrimental to the interests of the BRS which, political analysts suspect, might end up as the loser. That might pave the way for the Congress retaining power in Telangana, and that will be suicidal for both the BJP and the BRS. The BRS has to defeat the Congress by any means and for that it has to align with a party like the BJP. With the indirect support of the BRS, it became easy for the BJP to get the results it expected. The BJP had won only four Lok Sabha seats so far in TG. But with BRS help it won eight LS seats in 2024 equalling the Congress score.
Meanwhile, there were some unexpected developments like the arrest of KCR’s daughter, K. Kavitha, in connection with her alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor scam. This badly damaged KCR’s image, and Kavitha found her graph falling in the BRS, and her brother KTR was projected as KCR’s successor. Annoyed, Kavitha fumed at some internal forces without naming her brother KT Rama Rao. But KCR has already paved the way for his son’s succession by making him the Working President of the BRS.
KCR now needs the help of another party to pull down the Congress and that can only be the BJP. The AIMIM might help this combination in Telangana as it did in North India by splitting minority votes. In Telangana it may adopt the same line.
The political situation may make KCR go for an alliance with the BJP instead of merging into it. A party which has ruled the state for two consecutive terms may not be ready to give up its identity. Political observers say that the BJP might neutralise KCR in case the BRS merges with the BJP. For example, the AIADMK of Tamil Nadu is already under BJP control. KCR must act wisely to prevent a repeat of that in Telangana.
