BRS alone in national politics
NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad
Even though Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao speaks of gathering the support of like-minded parties on issues like the UCC or the Delhi Ordinance, the BRS is not part of either the UPA or the NDA meetings. Evidently, BRS will be alone in taking forward its national agenda.
Earlier, the BRS was planning to go ahead with the JDS but didn’t support them during the Karnataka elections. Now the JDS is likely to attend the NDA meeting. The party broke its ties with the Shiv Sena after KCR’s recent entry into Maharashtra. The BRS is friendly with the SP, the AAP, the JMM and others. BRS sources said that Congress has failed to take on its common enemy BJP across the country, and is instead working as per its own preferences. The BRS leader said that like-minded parties attending meetings don’t mean they have distanced from their friends.
BRS leader Krishank Manne said, “Being our friend doesn’t mean they have to play by our tunes. Recently after the Patna meeting also, Akhilesh Yadav came. AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi spoke supporting our leader. The number of parties at that meeting is 26 but in the Lok Sabha, they have only 140 seats. They need 272. Where will these numbers come from unless Congress wins 100 seats? Where will it come from?”
A prominent BRS leader said, “Why should we entertain the BJP or the Congress when we are defeating both of them here in the state? Rahul or their local party president did not target Modi in Telangana.”
“Our CM said it is not always the BJP Vs Congress. There is a need for an alternative. Ours is the farmers’ agenda,” he added.
