Days after former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and Telangana Jagruthi President, K Kavitha, hinted that her proposed party may be named TRS, her brother and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao has hinted that his party BRS might revert to its old name TRS.
Kavitha, who quit BRS last year after KCR suspended her for alleged anti-party activities, is gearing up to float a new political party on April 25. Speculation is rife that she might adopt the name TRS, which she recently said was open for use.
Stating that TRS doesn’t exist anymore, she had remarked that anyone was free to use the name.
KCR had floated the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2001 to revive the movement for statehood to Telangana. In 2022, he changed the name to BRS to expand the party to other parts of the country.
Ever since the BRS lost power to the Congress in the 2023 elections, a section of BRS leaders have reportedly been of the view that the party lost connect with the people after it dropped Telangana from its name.
They are said to believe Telangana sentiment has been integral to the TRS in its journey, and after the name was changed to BRS, the party appeared to have distanced itself from its core element.
This was reportedly echoed by KTR on Sunday, April 12, while addressing a party meeting in Mancherial district.
In an informal talk with reporters, KTR reportedly said that the BRS was examining reverting the party name back to TRS as part of a broader strategy to reclaim political ground in Telangana.
KTR reportedly admitted that the change of name from TRS to BRS diluted the strong Telangana sentiment associated with the party.
“We have suffered politically due to the name change. The emotional connect people had with TRS and the pink flag is inseparable,” he reportedly said.
KTR also reportedly said that reviving the old identity could re-energise party workers. However, he made it clear that a final decision will be taken by the party chief KCR.
It was KCR himself who first hinted at reverting to TRS at a meeting of his legislators at party headquarters Telangana Bhavan in December last year. During a subsequent press conference, he had repeatedly referred to BRS as TRS.
Several BRS senior leaders had already demanded within the party fora that the name TRS should be restored as part of the efforts to regain lost ground.
After achieving his goal of Telangana state in 2014 and two terms in power, looking to expand the party to states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha, KCR declared his national ambitions. He had said he was confident of replicating the ‘Telangana model’ of development and welfare in other states.
It was in October 2022 that the regional party turned national with the party’s General Body Meeting resolving to change its name to BRS.
The party was aggressively looking for a pan-India presence as KCR named the president of the party’s Andhra Pradesh unit and had a series of meetings with leaders from various states keen to join hands with him.
With the opening of a central office in New Delhi, the BRS was gearing up to expand its activities to different parts of the country.
Working with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as its target, the party was focusing on 100 Lok Sabha seats.
However, the defeat in the 2023 Assembly elections in Telangana dashed these national ambitions. It suffered further humiliation in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it drew a blank.