BRS neither A-Team nor B-Team, says Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao

Talking about the criticism from political parties of Maharashtra, he asked as to why parties and their leaders are rattled.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is neither A-Team nor B-Team of anybody, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao asserted and wanted to know as to why political parties in Maharashtra are worried and rattled by his entry.

“The BRS is a national party. Let me tell the people of Maharashtra, the people of India that we are neither A-Team nor B-Team of any part. We don’t need to be. We are the team of Dalits, farmers, downtrodden, minorities, and workers,” Rao said addressing a political meeting on Tuesday coinciding with his pilgrimage to Pandharpur in Solapur and Tuljapur in Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra.

Explaining his ‘Telangana-model’, KCR, as he is popularly known, said that the Central government over the years has failed in several aspects.

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During the meeting, NCP’s Bhagirath Bhalke formally joined the BRS. Bhalke is the son of late NCP MLA Bharat Bhalke who died of post-Covid complications in November 2020. In the bypolls that followed, the NCP fielded the junior Bhalke as its official candidate for the Pandharpur Assembly, however, he lost to BJP's Samadhan Audate.

KCR asked Rao to coordinate efforts to bring in two buses - one for men and another for women - from each and every tehsil to Telangana so that they can for themselves what his government has done. “You should come and stay for a few days, visit temples, see the development that we have carried out,” he said.

Talking about the criticism from political parties of Maharashtra, he asked as to why the parties and their leaders are rattled. “What is there to fear,” he asked.

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“Today you see the plight of villages and farmers. Water for drinking, irrigation purposes and electricity are not being provided to people. Are these resources, water and coal, not available in India? Do we lack them? Then why is the situation like this? Power and water are the two key things for all, particularly the farmers,” Rao pointed out.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi described BRS as the B-Team of BJP even as the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance said KCR should not engage in politics though he was welcome for pilgrimage.