The Lok Sabha elections in Telangana this time are unique in the sense that the family of Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao is not part of the race and for the first time, none from his family will have representation in Parliament, either in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.
Representation in Parliament was key to Telangana formation as the Constitution vested with it the power of creating a new State, and Mr. Rao emphasised multiple times how the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (now BRS) captured national attention by strongly advocating for the creation of a separate state.
The first election in 2004, after the creation of TRS, saw Mr. Rao himself being elected from Karimnagar constituency and Ale Narendra from Medak. Mr. Rao created necessary buzz, forcing a by-election from Karimangar in 2006 and later in 2008 to prove that the Telangana sentiment was intact despite then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s best efforts to dilute that.
