It has been four months since Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao renamed his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) as part of his national political mission to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It was a calculated risk by KCR, whose identity lies with the Telangana sentiment. Without Telangana, there is no KCR and vice versa. That is how, the people of the state perceive the political situation in the state.
But by renaming his party as the BRS, KCR has given up the Telangana tag for the party as he has a broader political mission now. But since he is identified with Telangana, the people still consider his party as TRS and are yet to digest the fact that TRS is not existence.
Though KCR made an appeal to the Election Commission of India not to register any new political party with the name Telangana Rashtra Samithi, he has no control over the letters “TRS” as such.
According to latest reports, at least half a dozen names are pending with the ECI for registration with the abbreviation TRS.
Some leaders have applied for registration of political parties like Telangana Rythu Samithi, Telangana Rakshana Samithi, Telangana Rajya Samithi, Telangana Rashtra Punarnimana Samithi etc.
The abbreviation of all these parties will be TRS and if the EC registers any of these names, it would be a big trouble for the BRS and its president KCR in the next elections.
It is learnt former MP and BRS leader Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy has applied for the title Telangana Rythu Samithi and if he doesn’t get entry into the Congress or the YSR Telangana Party, he might even float a new party with TRS, sources said.
Such parties might not have strength of their own, but they will definitely eat into the vote bank of the BRS if the people are confused about the party’s name. However, the BRS still has the car symbol; so, the people might vote for it in the next elections.
