Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the main opposition party in Telangana, is believed to be facing a cold war within the family of party president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, with reports of his nephew and former minister T Harish Rao gradually gaining control over the leaders and cadre of the party.
For the last couple of months, it is Harish Rao who is said to be calling shots in the party and many of the party leaders are going to him regularly and holding parleys with him.
He is said to be chalking out his own agitation programmes against the Congress government, as there is no centralised command in the party for now.
While KCR has been confined to his farmhouse without conducting any party programmes or meetings, his son and BRS working president K T Rama Rao is focussing more on taking a personal revenge against Revanth Reddy.
As he has his own moles in the Congress government, he has been able to get crucial information about the contracts being awarded to Revanth’s close aides and corruption in certain projects and schemes.
But, according to a BRS leader, it is Harish Rao who is really fighting against the government on public issues.
He has been leading the party leaders and cadres from the front in every programme – whether it is going into the people to take up their cause or holding agitations against the inefficient administration of Revanth Reddy.
“At present, the party workers and even people are slowly forgetting KCR, as he has not been coming out to attack the government. Though KTR is also still actively fighting, it is mostly against the chief minister rather than on public issues. For the common party cadre, KTR is still inaccessible,” the BRS leader said.
While KTR is active on social media, it is Harish Rao who is very active and visible in the public. That is why he is being looked as the successor of KCR in the BRS, not KTR.
The absence of Kavitha in the active BRS politics has also come as an advantage to him.
“This is leading to some kind of uneasiness within the family. But KCR or KTR cannot do anything for now, because of the clout Harish Rao enjoys within the party. Any action against him will lead to a split in the BRS. That is why, KCR family members are not able to do anything,” the sources added.
