In a first, KCR and family stay away from a major election

For the first time since floating the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) 23 years ago, the family of party founder K. Chandrasekhar Rao is staying away from the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The former chief minister or a member of his family has fought every Parliament and Assembly election since 2004.

There was speculation that KCR, as the BRS chief is popularly known, or his son K. T. Rama Rao or nephew T. Harish Rao would contest Lok Sabha elections this time. However, none of the three MLAs have entered the fray.

KCR’s daughter K. Kavitha, who lost the 2019 election from the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency, is not contesting this time either. A member of the Telangana Legislative Council, she was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

KCR, who had resigned from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to float TRS to revive the Telangana movement in 2001, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Karimnagar in 2004 and became a minister in the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. He had retained the seat in by-elections held in 2006 and 2008.

In 2009, KCR was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mahabubnagar. It was during this term that he succeeded in achieving the goal of a separate Telangana state.

After TRS formed the first government in Telangana in 2014, KCR became the chief minister. His son and nephew, who were once again elected to the Assembly, became ministers in his cabinet. In the simultaneous Parliamentary elections, Kavitha was elected to the Lok Sabha from Nizamabad.

While TRS retained power in 2018, Kavitha lost Nizamabad to the BJP’s Dharampuri Arvind in the 2019 elections. She was later elected to the Legislative Council. In the recent Assembly elections, BRS lost power to the Congress.

With the announcement of Gaddam Srinivas Yadav’s candidature from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat on Sunday, the BRS has declared candidates for all the 17 seats going to polls on 13 May.

The party has claimed that it maintained a social balance in the selection of candidates for Lok Sabha elections in Telangana. The main opposition party stated that KCR maintained the same social balance in the selection of candidates and thus gained the confidence of all sections.

A look at the list of candidates shows that BRS has given tickets to six leaders from backward castes, three from Scheduled Castes, two from Scheduled Tribes and six from other castes.

The BRS, which bagged nine Lok Sabha seats in 2019, has retained three sitting MPs — Nama Nageswara Rao (Khammam), Maloth Kavitha (Mahabubabad) and Manne Srinivas Reddy (Mahabubnagar).

Five sitting MPs defected to the Congress or BJP, while one sitting MP was elected to the Assembly in December 2023.

By picking up leaders enjoying people’s support, KCR created an environment where they have better prospects compared to opponents, the BRS said, claiming that the announcement of the candidates has created confidence.

The party also believes that after the results of the recent Assembly elections, people across the state are recalling KCR’s rule and that this feeling is getting stronger. “In this context, the party is geared up to register its victory in the Parliament elections,” it said.

The party mentioned that some candidates have already started visiting constituencies and reaching out to people. It claimed that they are receiving good support too.

Key leaders of the party and public representatives are gearing up to undertake extensive campaigns in all constituencies to garner people’s support. BRS chief KCR himself will start visiting the constituencies soon to intensify the poll campaign.