In a significant development, the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao has disclosed that the party leadership was considering a proposal to revert the party name to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as part of a broader strategy to strengthen the organisation and reclaim political ground in Telangana.
The regional party, which had spearheaded the Telangana statehood movement, had changed its name to BRS in October 2022, to reflect its supremo K Chandrashekar Rao’s foray into national ambitions.
Two months later, the Election Commission of India had approved the name change, paving the way for KCR, as the former Chief Minister is popularly known, to expand the party’s footprint beyond Telangana.
However, the subsequent defeat in the assembly elections in December 2023 poured cold water on his national ambitions.
A section of senior leaders feel that the party which was primarily identified with the Telangana cause lost its connection with the people of the state once it started projecting itself as a national party.
The demand for reverting the party to its original avatar has been gaining momentum. The TRS, founded in 2001, was in the forefront of the statehood agitation, culminating in the bifurcation of the combined Andhra Pradesh to carve out a separate Telangana state in 2014.
Some political observers called the name change a historic blunder as it eroded the core identity of the regional party.
In an informal interaction with the media on Sunday, Rama Rao admitted that rechristening TRS as BRS could have diluted the strong Telangana sentiment associated with the party. He indicated that the party was internally deliberating a possible return to its original name.
“We have lost politically due to the name change. The emotional connection people had with TRS and the pink flag is inseparable,” he said, adding that reviving the old identity could re-energise party workers. However, he asserted that a final decision will be taken by the party chief KCR.
The opposition leader also announced plans to undertake a state-wide Padayatra early next year to highlight public issues. He said the proposed padayatra would serve as a direct outreach to the people, focusing on grievances across sectors.
In a candid admission, Rama Rao acknowledged organisational shortcomings during the BRS’s decade-long tenure in power. He said the party had failed to maintain effective coordination with grassroots leaders, including sarpanches and Mandal-level representatives, and lacked a comprehensive policy for workers from Telangana employed in Gulf countries. He said these gaps contributed to a disconnect between the leadership and cadres.
To address this, he announced a membership drive in May and June, along with structured training programmes for party workers.
Efforts would also be made to strengthen direct communication with cadres, drawing from best practices of other political parties like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which maintained direct contact with grassroot level leaders.
Also read: BRS MLAs suspended from Telangana Assembly till session end
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