BRS focuses on gaining 6% vote share
NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s immediate objective is to get the national party tag by the time of Lok Sabha elections.
Party sources said that the immediate objective is not winning or losing, but making sure that the BRS polls six per cent votes in four states. The focus is on Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana.
A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions.
Firstly, the party must win two per cent of the seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different States or secondly, in a general election to the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly, the party must polls six per cent of votes in four States and in addition to that it must win four Lok Sabha seats from any state or states or thirdly, a party should get recognition as a state party in four or more states.
BRS sources said that fielding candidates and bagging the stipulated vote share are the prime goal for party karyakartas in other states. Sources in the party said that there is interest among people to know who the BRS is fielding.
Sources said that the party remained a mute spectator when it came to speaking about alliances with the congress, JD(S), AAP, SP, Janata Dal etc.
The BRS has neither endorsed the recent statements of its partners calling for an alliance with the Congress nor has it rejected it.
Sources said that Chief Minister KCR’s goal is realistic and to be able to play a role in national politics the party will be identifying candidates who will be able to secure the required number of votes.
Andhra Pradesh BRS President Thota Chandrasekhar has already said that the BRS will contest 175 Assembly seats and 25 Parliament seats in Andhra Pradesh in the next elections. Even Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said that the BRS may not come to power immediately but there is a process and a need for an alternative agenda for the nation.
The idea of expanding to other states is good for gaining votes. One of the ways to generate goodwill is to spread the pre-Assembly election message of becoming a national party. This has helped regional parties like the AAP and the TMC to fight the BJP successfully in past Assembly elections.
