Assembly poll disaster: BRS cadres want party name reverted to TRS

Hyderabad: Following a massive defeat in the recent Telangana state polls, Bharat Rashtra Samithi party cadres demand to revert the party's name back to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Sources from the party informed that many party workers suggested the same before the BRS Working President and son of the former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, K T Rama Rao. According to them, removing "Telangana" from the party's name apparently disconnected the party from the state, PTI reports.

Senior BRS leaders, including Rama Rao, are currently holding a series of Lok Sabha constituency-wise preparatory meetings starting from January 3, eliciting suggestions from the cadres while brainstorming the reasons for the poll debacle.

"In every party meeting, some leaders and cadres are asking the senior leadership to change the name to TRS. They feel that without Telangana, the party name appears to have caused a disconnect with people," a senior leader of BRS told PTI.

Another leader said that though they are averse to the name change, they could not voice their mind as Rao, also known as KCR, is known for making tough decisions and emerging indomitable.

The name change to TRS is one of the top five reasons being attributed to the party's defeat in the assembly polls, the leader added.

In 2022, KCR renamed the TRS as BRS to expand the party's footprint beyond Telangana, but the failure in the Assembly election may have derailed his plans, and clarity would emerge in a few months.

The BRS (then TRS) was a formidable force even before the formation of Telangana in undivided Andhra Pradesh, with its USP being the champion of Telangana's interests.

The KCR-led party secured only out of 175 assembly seats in the November 30 polls.