Why BRS leadership is presently on shaky ground

Going by the concatenation of recent events, and those that are likely to follow in the days ahead, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s leadership appears to be on a shaky ground.  
Let us begin with the situation that BRS working president and former minister K Taraka Ramarao (KTR) has been facing. What would happen if KTR is arrested in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Formula E race case? Will such eventuality translate into sympathy for him or BRS?  The ongoing probe into the case has revealed details that cannot be wished away. The case has drawn wide attention in political and other quarters.  
In the absence of former chief minister and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s active role of late in Telangana’s political space, KTR has become, by default, a synonym for the voice of BRS, whether within the Assembly or outside the House. KCR is Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Telangana Legislative Assembly. So, his non-participation in the proceedings of the House is visibly felt by leaders and cadre of the party.
After undergoing a hip surgery following a fall in the bathroom of his farmhouse a few months back, KCR has elected to remain confined to home. Desertions from the party appear to be a consequence of KCR’s absence in the public life. Rubbing salt into his wounds, former Speaker of TG Assembly Pocharam(Parigi) Sreenivasa Reddy, who once emotionally appealed to leaders and cadre to stick with KCR through thick and thin, switched to the Congress.
For all practical purposes, KCR has handed over the reins of the party to KTR. In fact, KTR became more popular than his sister K Kavitha within BRS after she was arrested in the Delhi liquor scam case. That apart, KCR’s nephew and a stalwart in BRS T Harish Rao has been marginalised within the party.  
In a way, Harish-KTR duo can be compared with Shiv Sena’s Raj Thackeray- Uddhav Thackeray duo in Maharashtra. A nephew of Siva Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Raj had toiled to build Shiv Sena by winning the hearts of masses in Mumbai’s slums, who account for 40% of the population of India’s commercial capital. After the party emerged as a state level organization, Uddhav entered the scene and took the reins of the party, virtually forcing Raj to leave the very party he had nurtured. Harish Rao too had worked hard for the party under the influence of his uncle KCR even at a time when KTR did not think about entering politics. At the time of BRS’ formation (then TRS) in 2001, KTR was employed in a firm in the US. Harish was sidelined after KTR took a plunge into TG politics. After inducting his son into cabinet, KCR had given clear signals to party functionaries and the official machinery about his successor. Harish had to swallow a bitter pill and declare his continued loyalty to KCR.
Although the Bharatiya Janata Party in Telangana had tried to take advantage of the situation by inviting him into its fold, Harish publicly reiterated his confidence in KCR’s leadership.
Now, the Congress government headed by A. Revanth Reddy has decided to probe the alleged irregularities concerning the execution of Formula E race. Initially the BRS had downplayed the scam, but later KTR expressed his readiness to go to jail. He said he would practice yoga in jail and take out padayatra after his release, perhaps believing that whoever goes on statewide padayatra would stand a chance to become the chief minister, going by the examples of Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh.
Now that the party is reconciled to KTR’s possible arrest, the future of the party’s leadership is not clear, should the BRS working president be jailed. Of course, there is talk that KCR would resume his political activity in the New Year. That is, KCR may come out of his elective ‘political hibernation’ to fill the gap that may be caused by the arrest of his son. In that case, the next question is: Will KCR continue as the party chief? Or, will he make his nephew to lead the party? For, the chances of making his daughter Kavitha the party chief are bleak, considering she has returned from Tihar jail in Delhi, out on bail after spending five months there in connection with the Delhi liquor scam.
In these circumstances, resolution of the leadership vacuum in BRS in the eventuality of KTR’s arrest would be keenly watched by political and other circles.