The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (transl. Indian National Council; abbr.BRS), formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (abbr.TRS), is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in the state of Telangana and currently the primary opposition party in the state. It was founded on 27 April 2001 by K. Chandrashekar Rao, with a single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital.[13] It has been instrumental in carrying forth a sustained agitation for the granting of statehood to Telangana.[14]
Later on 5 October 2022, the name of the party was changed from Telangana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi to foray into the national politics.[18][19] After suffering a decisive defeat in the 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election, the party was restricted to winning only 39 seats in the state of Telangana.[20]
Ideology
Historical flag of Bharat Rashtra Samithi
On 27 April 2001, Rao resigned as Deputy Speaker of the Telugu Desam Party.[21] He opined that Telangana people were being categorically discriminated against within the undivided State of Andhra Pradesh. Consequently, Rao argued that only the creation of a separate State of Telangana would allow for the alleviation of the people's predicament.[22] Accordingly, KCR founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Party at Jala Drushyam, Hyderabad in April 2001, with the objective of achieving statehood for Telangana.[21] The party initially won one-third of Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTC) and one-quarter of Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) in Siddipet within sixty days of the formation of the party.[23]
Politics
Logo in use under the party's original name
2004 elections
In the aftermath of 2004 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, the party won 26 state assembly seats and also won five parliament seats. The TRS formed an alliance with Indian National Congress and joined the United Progressive Alliance. In September 2006, the party withdrew support for the central government on the grounds of indecision by the government over the delivery of its electoral promise to create Telangana.[24] On 13 September 2006, Rao triggered a by-election in his Lok Sabha constituency of Karimnagar, claiming provocation from Congress MLA M. Satyanarayana Rao and citing delay in the formation of Telangana state, as promised by Congress in its 2004 manifesto.[25] He won the subsequent by-election with a strong majority.[26] All TRS MLAs and MPs resigned their positions in April 2008 when the Central government did not meet their demand for a separate state in its latest budget session.[27] The by-election was held on 29 May 2008. In the 2008 by-elections, TRS retained only seven out of the 16 assembly segments and two out of the four Lok Sabha segments that it resigned, a significant defeat for the party.[28][29] TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao offered to resign after the by-election losses, but instead remained in office after other party leaders rejected the resignation.[29]
2009 elections
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In 2009, TRS formed an alliance with TDP and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.[30] The party contested 45 assembly and nine parliament seats to win only ten assembly and two parliament seats. This was considered another major defeat.
2014 elections
In the 2014 Assembly and National Elections, TRS did not align with NDA or UPA and fought the elections on its own. TRS, which led the campaign for a separate State for more than a decade, emerged victorious by winning 11 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats and 63 of the 119 Assembly seats, and emerged as the party with the largest vote share in Telangana. The TRS' campaign had no other stars except KCR who addressed over 300 public meetings, heli-hopping around and often addressing more than 10 meetings in a single day. The TRS not only retained its north Telangana stronghold but also made inroads in south Telangana, a Congress bastion.[31]
It was only after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, and the creation of separate Telangana state that the party begun to deliver electoral success. TRS won 63 out of 110 seats it contested in the 2014 Assembly elections in the newly formed state, and went on to form the government.[32] K. Chandrashekar Rao, had taken oath as the first Chief Minister of the new state of Telangana on 2 June 2014.
2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election
The TRS Government headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on 6 September 2018 dissolved the Legislative Assembly, the first after the formation of Telangana, to pave the way for early elections in the state.[33] The party announced a list of 104 candidates for elections on the same day.[34]
In the 2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election, held three months after the house dissolution, the TRS party won with a massive majority. They won 88 seats, more than 70% of the 119 total.[32]
2019 Indian general election
In May 2019, TRS Chief Rao flouted the idea of Federal Front, aiming for a non-Congress and non-BJP government at the centre.[35] The party won nine out of the contested 17 seats, a reduction of two seats from the 2014 election.[36]
2022-present: Name change, electoral setbacks
Bharat Rashtra Samithi
The name of the party was changed from Telangana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi on 5 October 2022 to foray into national politics ahead of the 2024 Indian general election.[18][19] On 6 October 2022, officials from BRS submitted the relevant documents required for name change according to the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to the Election Commission of India in New Delhi.[37] As of October 2022, the party activities are taking place from a rented building at Sardar Patel Marg in Delhi. On 14 November the party office was inaugurated at New Delhi.[38][39]
Andhra Pradesh unit
The party created its local unit in the residual Andhra Pradesh state on 2 January 2023. Dr. Thota Chandrasekhar, former general secretary of the Jana Sena Party, was named its president. Other leaders from Andhra Pradesh who joined the party on the on its state unit's formation include former minister Ravela Kishore Babu, former IRS official Partha Sarathi, and former Praja Rajyam Party leader T. J. Prakash.[40][41]
The state unit suffered a setback in April 2023 when the Election Commission of India derecognised the BRS as a state party in Andhra Pradesh. The party had been enjoying state party status in Undivided Andhra Pradesh since 2004, and then in the states of residual Andhra Pradesh and Telangana since 2014.[42]
2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election
At the 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election, the party lost their majority, with their vote share falling by 10.52% to 37.35% and their seat count falling from 88 to 39. They retained their seats in the Greater Hyderabad region, but lost most of their seats in the rest of the state to Congress, who won 64 seats and formed the next government.
2024 Indian general election
The party suffered a further setback at the 2024 Indian General Election. Despite their previous national ambitions, the party only contested in Telangana. However, they were wiped out, losing all 9 of their seats in the state. The party's vote share was over cut in half from 41.71% to 16.68%.
^"One year of Telangana a mixed bag for KCR". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), led by Chandrasekhar Rao, took over the reins of the new state amid euphoria and high expectations. ... Blending boldness with populism, KCR has earned the reputation for being a tough task master
^"PM only paying lip-service to federalism: TRS". Moneycontrol.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019. We would have believed, we would have hoped that he being former Chief Minister himself would have empowered states much much more because stronger the states, stronger the country; that's true federalism; can't just be federalism for lip-service.
^ ab"'BLF to challenge TRS, BJP's neo-liberal agenda'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2018. speakers expressed their firm belief in a Bahujan Left Front (BLF) to bring an end to the pro-liberal economic policies of Telangana Rashtra Samithi government.
^Bureau, The Hindu; N 6661, Rahul (6 October 2022). "Resolution on BRS handed over to EC". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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