KCR's Bharat Rashtra Samiti makes inroads in Maharashtra

After adequate groundwork, KCR addressed his first rally at Nanded in Marathwada in February and in June opened a party office in Nagpur.

Over the last six months, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) headed by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is trying to make inroads in Maharashtra - but the major players in the western state seem to be unfazed as of now though an erosion of vote bank can’t be ruled out.

After adequate groundwork, KCR, as he is popularly known, addressed his first rally at Nanded in Marathwada in February and in June opened a party office in Nagpur.

So far he has addressed four rallies - Nanded (February 5), Loha in Nanded district (March 26), Aurangabad, which is now known as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (April 24) and Nagpur (June 16).

Also Read: K Chandrashekar Rao in expansion mode, opens BRS office in Nagpur

He has personally touched base in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions - and in rallies, he has given the call ‘abki baar, kisan sarkar’ and spoke about the Telangana model of governance.

Marathwada incidentally is part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state.

The Marathwada and Vidarbha regions share a border with Telangana and people in the geographical belt have a close association.

Leaders of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-led ruling Shiv Sena-BJP or the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Sharad Pawar-led NCP, Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) have so far not seen him as a concern.

Rao’s party is planning to contest all 288 seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Maharashtra’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ajit Pawar, a former four-time deputy chief minister, said that KCR would not succeed. “We have seen in the past that leaders like (former Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministers) Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati had tried to gain a foothold in Maharashtra but did not succeed,” he said, adding, “May be he is trying to gain a foothold outside Telangana as he might want to become a national leader.”

Some of the MVA leaders said that KCR’s party is in touch with some of the leaders of their group.

In fact, in his four rallies, KCR had targeted both the ruling BJP as well as the Congress, which leads the Opposition nationally.

On 9 December 2022, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was rechristened as BRS - and KCR is going to travel across the length and breadth of the country - and Maharashtra seems to be the first target.

After Maharashtra, it would be Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Haryana.

“We are into 75 years of Independence. Of these 54 years the Congress was in power, the BJP around 16 years. Rest three to four years, people came and went. So who is responsible for the current state for farmers, its these two parties,” KCR repeated in these meetings.

"You have to unite and fight, show your strength in elections and come to power. People from you only can become an MP or an MLA. Start from Zilla Parishad. Pick up the pink flag and make a government of farmers,” KCR states in these meetings.