The defeat of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the recently concluded assembly elections in Telangana has significantly dampened the plans of its president and former chief minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao, to play a significant role in national politics ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Originally, the BRS had been considering contesting the Lok Sabha elections in at least half a dozen states, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, in addition to Telangana.
KCR had established party units in all these states and began building the necessary networks. He was supremely confident that he would achieve a hattrick in the Telangana assembly elections, gaining nationwide traction.
He set up the BRS national headquarters in Delhi, appointed in-charges, and designated media managers to project him as a prominent leader once the Telangana elections were won.
However, with the BRS losing the assembly elections in Telangana, all his plans have gone awry. The party has virtually closed down its office in Hyderabad, at least temporarily, and BRS leaders from other states are uncertain about whom they should report to.
Compounding the issue, KCR suffered a major hip fracture on Thursday night and was urgently taken to Hyderabad for surgery. Doctors at Yashoda Hospitals stated that he would be unavailable for public and party engagements for at least eight weeks.
Considering KCR's condition, it is highly unlikely that he will be physically fit by the time Lok Sabha elections take place.
The party requires at least two to three months to initiate preparations for the Lok Sabha, and there is no way he would be able to select candidates, let alone address public meetings.
While his son, K T Rama Rao, may take on the responsibility of leading the party in his father's absence, it remains uncertain whether he can focus on the national politics of the BRS, given his primary goal of winning the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.
There is also speculation that if KCR is absent, internal conflicts may arise within the party. The nature of these conflicts and whether any of his party MLAs would follow KTR's directions will be interesting to observe.
Thus, at least for the 2024 elections, KCR would have to abandon his national ambitions. The future of his plan and how or whether he will revive it is left to be seen over time.
