As KCR gears up to launch his national party, here’s everything you need to know about it

The TRS general body will meet at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday, where the delegates would authorise the change of the name of the party. They are also expected to finalise 9 October as the date for a major public meeting to be held in Delhi, where KCR would unveil his roadmap for steering the nation through the choppy waters of political unrest and the economic cataclysm that had come to define India.

He had said on occasions that he intended to contribute to the efforts for transforming India into a new-age regime where the aspirations of the teeming millions of farmers, youth, women, and various others would get their share of what is due to them.

As many as 283 delegates — including MLAs, MLCs, MPs, ZP chairpersons, and state executive committee members — are expected to attend the TRS general body meeting. Former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy will be among those who attend the meeting from other states.

The stepping stone

The road to Munugode, where a bypoll to the Assembly is scheduled for later this year. (Raj Rayasam/South First)

The announcement of the Munugode by-election came at a time when the TRS was in the midst of preparing for the long leap of faith into uncharted waters.

KCR is understood to have said at a recent party meeting that his Mission Delhi would begin from Munugode, as the TRS candidate contesting from there this time would be a nominee of the new national party. KCR, on Wednesday, is expected to announce the name of this candidate.

The indications are that he would renominate Kuskuntla Prabhakar Reddy, who lost to Congress candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy in the 2018 elections. Rajagopal Reddy is now in the fray on a BJP ticket.

Simultaneously, the party is preparing to approach the Election Commission on 6 October with a request for a change of name of the existing TRS to BRS. The TRS is of the opinion that as it is only a change of name, there may not be any problem with the Election Commission. Once the change is made, the TRS candidate in Munugode would contest as a BRS candidate, which would be the beginning of KCR’s foray into the national political realm.

Though KCR has not yet spoken his mind about the kind of leadership he wants to provide for the nation, now and then a few nuggets of his thought processes have tumbled out.

For instance, there is his assertion that the Telangana model of development was not only very apt but was badly needed for the entire country, though it has a distant echo that Narendra Modi, too, came up with a similar slogan of the Gujarat model of development when he projected himself as a national leader ahead of 2014 elections.

KCR has time and again insisted that his would be a farmers’ government. (Creative Commons)

KCR has already made it clear that the nation needs a farmers’ government. At a public meeting in Nizamabad recently, he said the next government at the Centre would be farmers’, and that he would provide power to the agriculture sector free of cost round the clock, as is being done in Telangana.

For the last few years, whenever he spoke of the need for change in perception of growth and development, his focus remained on agriculture and irrigation, two subjects that are very dear to him.

He had mentioned how, with proper planning and insight, the nation could benefit from its vast water resources which, according to him, are about 70,000 tmcft.

Even if the entire cultivable land, which is 50 percent of the total land, is provided with irrigation facilities, it would still have a surplus of 20,000 tmcft.

Why is KCR forming a national party?

The TRS sported a picture of the national flag as the display picture on social media, with TRS chief and CM KCR seen saluting. (TRSPartyOnline/Twitter)

KCR had been on a warpath with BJP ever since the saffron party became very aggressive in the state with its unceasing rant that it would unfurl the saffron flag on the Golconda Fort in the next elections — implying that they would snatch the keys to Pragati Bhavan from him.

These taunts apparently steeled KCR’s resolve to grow beyond Telangana and challenge Narendra Modi himself. Accordingly, he stepped up his fight against Modi’s “dictatorial, discriminatory, jingoistic and communal” policies and tried to enlist the support of like-minded parties across states.

As he was fighting the Congress in the state, he carefully avoided the national party in his attempt to share his thoughts with anti-BJP leaders. At least till the next Assembly elections are over in 2023, KCR might not have anything to do with the Congress, but it is possible that he might strike an alliance with the party at a later date — like while fighting general elections in 2024 — or he would have to risk being a loner.

The road ahead

Though it is not yet clear how he is going to spread his footprint in other states, there are reports that he is trying to revive his contacts in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh — whose member he was till he founded the TRS in 2001 — and see if he could get some of them to represent the BRS in Andhra Pradesh in the next elections.

Reports say that he is already in touch with some Velama leaders in the North Andhra districts in an attempt to make the TRS’ presence felt in AP, but he may face headwinds as people may not be kind to him as they have not yet forgotten the wounds the bifurcation of the state inflicted on them.

As regards other states, KCR is expected to appoint in-charge TRS leaders to explore the possibilities of the new national party spreading its wings there.

Also, it is not known how the non-BJP parties in power in other states would react to his attempts to foray into their states. It is a no-brainer that his current friends might find the development a little difficult to swallow, as he will be trying to cut into their votes.

This apart, he would have to take in his stride the criticism that his BRS was a B-team to the BJP as his efforts might end up in dividing the anti-BJP votes and thus help the saffron party romp home once again at the national level.