Telangana CM will challenge BJP on issues related to Dalits, farmers and youth.
NEW DELHI: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s new national party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will start expanding its footprints in northern India from November. The party’s target is to challenge BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by tying up with several regional outfits such as the Samajwadi Party.
This is for the first time that a south Indian leader is going to be active in central politics after floating his party at the national level. Rao will be on the political turf at the national level, showcasing his government’s works for Dalits, farmers and unemployed youth in Telangana. This will be his key agenda. The KCR government has launched the Dalit Bandhu scheme which aims to empower entrepreneurship among members of the community with a direct benefit transfer of Rs 10 lakh per family. Similarly, under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, the Telangana government has been crediting Rs 5,000 per acre per season into the bank account of land-owning farmers ahead of rabi and kharif seasons. Apart from these popular schemes, free power and various schemes for youth will be KCR’s key achievements with which he will go to Lok Sabha polls.
As part of his strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, KCR has almost sealed an alliance with SP in UP. He will also firm up alliances with non-Congress and non-BJP parties at an opportune moment. Rao, who was elected CM of Telangana for the second consecutive time, has set his sights on national ambitions. He will be opening two offices of BRS in Delhi. He has planned a grand rally with some regional parties, farmers and non-political organisations at Ramlila Maidan in February. His plan is to fight all Lok Sabha seats. He will try to counter the Hindutva agenda of BJP with the help of issues related to dalits, farmers and youth. For this, he has held talks with dalit and farmer leaders. He is reportedly telling farmers that the Centre is giving them Rs 6,000, while he would give them Rs 10,000. He apprises the Dalit leaders of what his government is giving to every family of the community.
If BRS fights elections on these agendas, it may make the contest challenging for BJP in states such as UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, etc. With the help of regional outfits, Rao’s party may prevent the split in votes of the opposition bloc. Rao has no problem expressing himself in Hindi. He has been targeting the BJP over one issue or the other for quite some time now. Rao’s outfit may harm Congress as well. With parties like AAP already creating trouble for the grand old party, BRS will add to its woes further. Congress will suffer the most if Rao’s party cuts into votes of Dalit and farmers. While newly elected Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge will be ready with his team in February, KCR will be consolidating his position in Delhi in the same month. After BJP and Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi will be the third national party in the political arena.