BRS looks to revert to TRS

The family of former Telangana Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), may see a fight for the name Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Days after KCR’s daughter and Telangana Jagruthi President, K. Kavitha, hinted that her proposed party may be named TRS, her brother and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao has said that the BRS is contemplating to revert to its old name TRS.

Kavitha, who quit BRS last year after KCR suspended her for anti-party activities, is gearing up to float a new political party. She is reportedly looking at adopting the name TRS, which she says, is open for use.

Stating that TRS doesn’t exist, she remarked that anyone was free to use the name.

KCR had floated TRS in 2001 to revive the movement for statehood to Telangana. In 2022, he changed the name to BRS to expand the party to other parts of the country.

Ever since the BRS lost power to the Congress in the 2023 elections, a section of BRS leaders have been of the strong view that the party lost connect with the people after it dropped Telangana from its name.

They believe Telangana sentiment has been integral to the TRS in its journey and after the name was changed to BRS, the party appeared to have distanced itself from its core element.

This was echoed by K.T. Rama Rao on Sunday while addressing a party meeting in Mancherial district.

He disclosed that the BRS was examining the issue of reverting the party name back to TRS as part of a broader strategy to reclaim political ground in Telangana.

Rama Rao admitted that the change of name from TRS to BRS diluted the strong Telangana sentiment associated with the party.

“We have suffered politically due to the name change. The emotional connect people had with TRS and the pink flag is inseparable,” he said.

Rama Rao believes that reviving the old identity could re-energise party workers. However, he made it clear that a final decision will be taken by the party chief KCR.

It was KCR himself who hinted at reverting to TRS at a meeting of the his legislators at party headquarters Telangana Bhavan in December last year. During a subsequent press conference, he had repeatedly referred to BRS as TRS.

Several BRS senior leaders had already demanded within the party fora that the name TRS should be restored as part of the efforts to regain lost ground.

Aware of the fact that with limited Lok Sabha seats (17) which Telangana has, he will not be able to influence national politics and KCR came out with the idea of BRS.

After achieving his goal of Telangana state in 2014 and two terms in power, KCR was confident of replicating the ‘Telangana model’ of development and welfare in other states.

Looking to expand the party to states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha, KCR declared his national ambitions.

It was in October 2022 that the regional party turned national with the party’s General Body Meeting resolving to change its name to BRS.

The party was aggressively looking for pan-India presence as KCR named the President of the party’s Andhra Pradesh unit and had a series of meeting with leaders from various states keen to join hands with him.

With the opening of a central office in New Delhi, the BRS was gearing up to expand its activities to different parts of the country.

Working with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as its target, the party was focussing on 100 Lok Sabha seats.

However, the defeat in the 2023 Assembly elections in Telangana dashed all the hopes of the party.

It suffered further humiliation in 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it drew a blank.

After lying low for nearly two years, the BRS leadership is looking to infuse a new life into the party.

It apparently believes that reverting to TRS would set the right tone to reconnect to people. BRS may again become TRS by April 27, when it celebrates its formation day.

It will be interesting to see how the party overcomes the legal challenges it may face from Kavitha, who looks keen to claim the name.