The recent debacle of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the recently held assembly elections in Telangana has shattered the the ambitious plans of party president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to foray into national politics.
The BRS, which was confident of returning to power in Telangana for the third consecutive term, was hoping to play a big role in the national politics by contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha and even Andhra Pradesh.
But following the defeat in the Telangana assembly elections, all the plans of KCR to emerge as a big player in national politics have gone topsy turvy. Now, there is a total silence in the party about the activities in the other states.
According to reports, the leaders in these states are said to be looking for alternative routes to sustain their political journey. In Odisha, for instance, former chief minister Giridhar Gomango, who had joined the BRS with a lot of fanfare last year, returned to his parent party – the Congress, on Wednesday.
In Andhra Pradesh, too, there have been reports of the BRS leaders contemplating dumping the party and join the other parties. BRS Andhra unit president Thota Chandrasekhar, who had hitherto been describing KCR as Desh Ki Neta and claiming that the BRS would contest the next assembly elections in a big way, has stopped coming to Hyderabad and is looking for alternative platforms.
Sources said leaders like Thota Chandrasekhar and former minister Ravela Kishore Babu, who were playing big role in Andhra BRS, are contemplating joining the Congress party, hoping that the party would witness a turnaround with Y S Sharmila taking over as the PCC chief.
Some leaders are trying to explore the option of joining the Telugu Desam Party or Jana Sena Party, but if they don’t have the scope, they might join the Congress and wait for good opportunities in future, sources said.
