The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) is exploring legal options to revert its name to Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) to regain its identity that brought them fame and power in the last two decades.
Former MP and former vice chairman of the Telangana State Planning Board Boinpally Vinod Kumar said the party was definitely looking at the demand from the cadre who feel the change from TRS to BRS has stolen the soul of the party.
“Telangana was our slogan and our identity. Why should we lose it to someone else,” is the demand from the cadre even now, he said speaking to The Hindu. Even BRS chief and former chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao is convinced someway that such a powerful weapon has been dropped from their armour.
Mr. Vinod Kumar, who is a lawyer by profession, said the legal options are being looked into whether they can revert the name from BRS to TRS or have to own both titles at the same time. The option of using TRS in Telangana and BRS in the rest of the country is also open to the party. Even if a final decision is taken by Mr. Chandrashekhar Rao the change may not happen soon and at least not before the Parliament elections.
The party is facing a peculiar problem as it goes for the Parliament election campaigning with the argument that only BRS can effectively represent the issues of Telangana, as no other party is sentimentally attached to the State. Such an appeal with Telangana in the party’s name could have been easily sold. Now, people are questioning if that was the case why ‘Telangana’ was replaced with ‘Bharat’.
The BRS lost the Telangana Assembly elections on November 30 after it secured only 39 out of 119 seats, unlike the past two elections when it won under the TRS name. Now the party is struggling to survive the political onslaught by both the BJP and the Congress that are encouraging defections from the BRS.
National ambitions dried up
Primarily, the name change was thought of with an aim to ensure KCR’s entry into national politics easily. BRS more than TRS would be acceptable to people across the country. The loss in the Telangana Assembly elections now seems to have poured water on the national ambitions.
Given the political situation in the country, KCR may not get another opportunity to take a shot at national politics individually unless he joins the NDA or the INDIA alliance. For the party to survive in Telangana when the BJP is getting aggressive seeing an opening for establishing itself here would be extremely difficult.
Reverting to TRS may rekindle some sentiment and establish the BRS as the true representative of Telangana’s identity and needs is the opinion of the BRS leaders.
The TRS decided to change its name on October 5, 2022. The Election Commission of India (ECI) approved the name change on December 8, 2022.
