TRS 2.0: KCR renames party Bharat Rashtra Samithi at ‘auspicious time’, aims to be ‘desh ka neta’
Politics

TRS 2.0: KCR renames party Bharat Rashtra Samithi at ‘auspicious time’, aims to be ‘desh ka neta’

Decision to rename Telangana Rashtra Samithi was taken at precisely 1.19 pm Wednesday. First electoral test will be the Munugode Assembly bypoll in Nalgonda district on 3 November.

   
Telangana CM KCR at general body meeting of TRS at Telangana Bhavan Wednesday | Twitter @trspartyonline

Telangana CM KCR at general body meeting of TRS at Telangana Bhavan Wednesday | Twitter @trspartyonline

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) Wednesday changed the name of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for his foray into national politics.

The party passed a resolution following its general body meeting on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra to formalise the change of name. With this new resolution, the TRS has now got a new identity after almost 21 years it came into existence.

It has been almost four years since KCR had evinced interest in national politics. Initially, he had floated the idea to form a ‘federal front’, which did not materialize over years. KCR then decided to go for a national party, which he announced earlier this year. But, with a lack of conclusion in sight, even his leaders had till very recently raised doubts about their chief’s national plans.

“Telangana Rashtra Samithi has conducted its general body meeting at party headquarters in Hyderabad. The general body meeting unanimously agreed to change the name from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi with a view to expand its activities nation wide,” KCR announced in the internal meeting amidst his party members shouting slogans ‘Desh ka neta KCR’.

Former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) H.D. Kumaraswamy and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan were among those present at the state general meeting that took place at Telangana Bhavan.

Necessary amendments to the constitution of the party will also be done, KCR said. A copy of the resolution will be submitted to the Election Commission Thursday for which a team of party leaders is traveling to Delhi.

The Telangana CM, who is known to have strong beliefs in auspicious timings and Vaastu, is said to have passed the resolution around 1.19 pm on the occasion of Dussehra.

“The time between sometime at 1.10 to 2.09 is Vijayamuhurtham, meaning an auspicious time where if someone were to start anything new — like a business or a new job — it is believed to give them success. Politically, too, if this time has been chosen, then the idea is the same,” Bachampalli Santosh Kumar Shastry told ThePrint.

“There are only a few such auspicious time slots in the entire year. Another one will be on Diwali and so on,” said the priest who is known for his ties with KCR.

On Monday, Union Tourism Minister and BJP leader G. Kishan Reddy had said KCR was nursing ambitions of becoming Prime Minister of the country at a time when he was losing his ground in Telangana. “There is nothing new in parties coming and fading away. KCR once said that the apocalypse is about to come and this is it,” he had said in Hyderabad.

Before taking the plunge to rename his party whose election symbol is a car and known for its pink colour, KCR had met a flurry of visits to opposition leaders, the latest being his meeting with Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann in May.

Now, with a new name, it remains to be seen how KCR moves ahead in his state where the Munugode Assembly bypoll in Nalgonda district is scheduled on November 3. The Telangana chief minister also has to face an electoral test in his home state before he can move ahead with his plans for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The previous name, TRS, resonated strongly with the sentiment of a separate Telangana, which became the party’s identity too as KCR had led the separate statehood movement in 2012. KCR has been in power ever since Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Although the party’s name has now been changed to BRS, whose presence is now still limited to only Telangana, it still has a long way to go to be recognised as a national party.

For the BRS to attain the status of a national party, it has to win at least 6 per cent of valid votes in over four states in general and state elections, and secure at least four Lok Sabha seats. Another route will be getting recognition as a state party in four states. Similarly, the tag can be ensured if the BRS wins 2 per cent of the seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.

(Edited by Tony Rai)


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