‘It is to be seen how much impact the BRS makes in the Hindi heartland mostly ruled by either the BJP or Congress’.
After making forays into Maharashtra and Odisha, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which has announced nationwide expansion plans, has entered poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
The party has received a boost with prominent social activist from the state, Anand Roy, joining the party. Roy, who is an RTI and tribal rights activist and had brought to light the Vyapam scam that created a sensation in the Hindi heartland, joined BRS in the presence of party national president and Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao at Pragati Bhavan on 7 June.
Not only this, prominent tribal rights organization “Jai Adivasi Yuvashakti Sangathan (JAYS)”, which is fighting for the rights of tribals, too, has declared its support to the party. Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, a party leader, who did wish to be named, said after Maharashtra, massive expansion has begun in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
He said the Congress had won the 2018 Assembly elections with the support of the group which has joined BRS now. ‘’After Maharashtra, where membership drive is in full swing, now we are entering Hindi heartland. Now it is natural that the party will prepare candidates as elections are closer.
Now with the joining of JAYS, the party has got cadres who can help in winning elections whether it is Assembly or municipal election. We have got a ready-made system. It is the same group which helped Congress come to power in 2018. We have a base now and will expand from here,’’ he said. “However, the expansion will take time. It took four months to reach ground level in Maharashtra; so certainly it will take time in Maharashtra as well,’’ he said.
Another BRS leader said there are many leaders who want to join parties, but not the Congress or the BJP and in such a situation, the BRS is becoming the obvious choice. “People will come, but it will take some time. For the last 22 years BRS has been a party in Telangana. Now suddenly, it has decided to expand and has gone to Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. This has made it a party having presence in four states. By the end of the year, it may enter seven states. Now it is no more a regional party and there are chances of more expansion. It may emerge as a force by the time the general elections are held,’’ he said.
“If you compare us with the Aam Aadmi Party, then we are just four months old as far as national presence is concerned whereas AAP has contested elections in Haryana, Karnataka, Goa, besides Delhi and Punjab. Yet, its voting percentage in Karnataka was less than the NOTA votes.
Political parties take time to expand. But our expansion is faster than other parties. This has become an alternative model of politics,’’ he said. “Till now, except AAP, be it Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal United, Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal or southern regional parties, none of them could expand out of their home state. But we have succeeded in making our presence felt out of our state as our policies are pro-farmers. Nobody thinks the way KCR thinks of the pro-farmers model of governance,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, party sources said the new party office at Nagpur will be inaugurated within a fortnight. After inaugurating the office at Nagpur, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will hold a meeting of state office bearers at Nagpur, sources said. The BRS has already announced that it is contemplating contesting all the 288 seats in Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go for polls in November this year.
In the last Assembly elections held in 2018, the Congress had emerged victorious in 114 seats out of 230, while the BJP had finished second by winning 109 seats.
Though the Congress managed to form a government with the help of independents, BSP and SP, it could not keep its flock together. BJP formed a government in 2020 with Shivraj Singh Chouhan becoming the chief minister. Now, it is to be seen how much impact the BRS makes in the Hindi heartland which has been mostly ruled by either the BJP or the Congress.