Challenges galore for BRS ahead of local body polls

Hans India

5 hours ago

Hyderabad: For the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) which suffered huge electoral losses in 2023 Assembly polls and 2024 Lok Sabha polls, troubles don't seem to end. The main Opposition party is facing a host of challenges like cases and enquiries against its top leaders ahead of the local body elections in the state which are expected in the next one month as hinted by the ministers.
This is one of the big elections in the state after the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The BRS, which faced setbacks in these two elections, is looking to regain its lost ground in Telangana.
The party leaders on several occasions contended that their main focus was on the local body elections in the state and not the council polls, which the party did not contest like the graduates and teachers.
With two senior ministers in the government hinting about the polls, the main Opposition party leaders opined that there would be challenges for the party in the coming days. The party leaders like K Chandrashekar Rao and Harish Rao had to face an inquiry by the Kaleshwaram Commission. Similarly, BRS working president KT Rama Rao also appeared before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) twice so far. The party leaders said that the Kaleshwaram Commission is expected to give its report by the end of July, and they are not sure how the report is going to be.
Besides these hurdles, the party has not yet started its membership drive and the formation of the committees too. The process generally starts after the plenary in April, but the party has not taken up the drive so far. A senior leader said that the membership drive was to start in June but not taken up since the focus was on preparations to appear before the inquiry commission and ACB. However, the BRS leader said that the membership and committees would not have an impact as all the leaders will swing into action once the election process starts.
Recently, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and Panchayat Raj Minister Seethakka hinted that elections for the local bodies would take place next month. However, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president B Mahesh Kumar Goud took the ministers to task for talking about the poll schedule. The recent developments like the release of Rythu Bharosa for the Kharif season gave ample indications that the local body polls would be round the corner.
Party leaders are of the strong view that besides these inquiries, the episode of BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha is also likely to have an impact on the prospects of the party. She recently raised a banner of revolt against her brother and party working president KTR. She also hinted that she would chart her own path if she was not given due recognition in the party. 'This episode will obviously create doubts in the minds of the people that something is not right within the party, and they may get confused,' a BRS leader told The Hans India. Party leaders feel that the local body elections would be the litmus test for the BRS.