Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President K Chandrashekar Rao, Known as KCR, Addresses Public Meeting for First Time Since 2023 Assembly Polls
KCR, the president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former Telangana Chief Minister, addressed a public meeting for the first time since his party faced a drubbing in the 2023 Assembly polls. The event took place in Elkathurthy, Hanumakonda district, marking the party’s silver jubilee.
In his speech, KCR took aim at the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government, stating that the Congress has failed in every aspect, including water, electricity, Rythu Bandhu, unemployment, women, and child welfare. He also criticized the Congress for selling university land, including the University of Hyderabad and Osmania University, and using JCBs to desilt lakes, while the BRS government is using them to demolish poor people’s houses.
While KCR’s appearance is seen as a political comeback, BRS working president K T Rama Rao, known as KTR, refused to label it as such. KTR stated that KCR was just giving the Congress government time, and that one-and-a-half years is a long time. KCR lives, eats, and sleeps politics, KTR told The Indian Express.
KCR said he would be more involved in party activities, but KTR dismissed the speculation, saying that KCR will continue to be the party’s leader and guiding light, and will be the CM in 2028. KTR also said that more such public meetings are in the offing, as the BRS has entered its 25th year and needs to make a roadmap for the next 25 years.
The BRS supremo said he was inspired by Lord Rams words, "Mother and motherland are more important than even heaven," to start the Telangana movement. KCR has previously stated that he is a Hindu, but at home. As a party principle, the BRS does not use religion and respects all.
With the BJP making inroads into Telangana, seen mostly riding on the BRS vote base and pushing its Hindutva agenda, KCR’s reference to the Hindu deity is being seen as an attempt to connect to the Hindu vote base that rallied behind the BJP in the 2023 Assembly polls and last year’s Lok Sabha elections.
KCR dedicated a majority of his address to the concerns of farmers, saying that the only government that has given subsidies to farmers is the BRS government. He also targeted the Congress government for not fulfilling its promise of increased aid under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme.
KCR’s message to farmers, ahead of the pending local body polls in the state, stems from the BRS’s poor performance in rural constituencies in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The party will put up a stellar show in the upcoming local body elections, and this is the start to that, said a BRS leader from Mahabubnagar.
KCR also addressed the Naxal issue, saying that the Centre should hold talks with Naxals, alleging that tribal youths were losing lives in the operation. KCR’s reference to the Naxals and tribal youth, at a time when the Congress has alleged that the BRS and BJP are hand-in-glove, is being seen as his bid to target the BJP for its undemocratic measures and reconnect with tribals who make up around 10% of the state’s population.
Reference : https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/kcr-rally-dialogue-naxal-telangana-9970262/
