Differentiating itself from other waning political groups is the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi, formerly known as the telangana Rashtra Samithi. The party, led by the aspirational K. chandrasekhar Rao, or kcr, has faced obstacles in its national growth, one of them being its inability to hold onto power in Telangana. Many political parties eventually lose their prominence after seizing control at the state or federal levels, and this is a destiny that many of its leaders eventually suffer.
The decline persisted until BRS experienced an abrupt and severe blow in 2024 when it lost its seat in the Lok Sabha. KCR's dreams of becoming nationwide were shattered, even though his party had party funds of almost Rs 1,000 crore.
In 2022, Rao changed the name of his party from telangana to BRS and established branches in andhra pradesh and Maharashtra. These units are currently inactive. This is a striking illustration of how quickly the political environment can shift.
The BRS is currently fighting a serious battle to survive after losing control to congress in the wilderness for the previous 10 years in the 2023 assembly elections.
Following the 2024 lok sabha elections, the BRS is not represented in the lok sabha for the first time. The party was booted out of the lok sabha in 2024 after controlling telanganapolitics for over two decades and nearly a decade overall.
BRS suffered yet another blow only last week when A. Gandhi, the party's MLA, switched to the ruling congress, illustrating the party's downward spiral. With nine former BRS members, one cpi member, and 65 members of congress, the congress currently has 75 MLAs.
KCR took the momentous choice to leave the telugu desam party (TDP) in 2001. The clamour for separation grew stronger because he thought that the only way to stop the prejudice in the telangana area was to establish a separate state. The goal of the trs was to accomplish the seemingly unachievable regional goal of separating Telangana. At the time, he was 47. tdp ranked as the National Democratic Alliance's second-largest party.
Together with the congress, the trs won five lok sabha seats in 2004. Subsequently, prime minister Dr. manmohan Singh's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) administration named kcr Union minister for Labour and Employment. He persisted in his fight both within and outside of Parliament. He started a hunger strike in 2009 to force the telangana Bill into the legislative assembly. A few days later, the Centre gave in to his requests.
Telangana State was created, as declared by the UPA administration, not long before the 2014 election. With 11 seats won—its highest number—in the assembly and lok sabha elections, the trs did well. But in the assembly votes of 2023, the congress defeated it for power.
TRS was formally renamed BRS on december 9, 2022, signifying KCR's goal to seek national goals.
The BRS is currently experiencing an existential crisis as a result of its inability to win even a single lok sabha seat in the state and a decline in its vote share to only 16.69%. With only 35 seats in the assembly, the BRS lost influence last year. During the 2024 lok sabha elections, the leader of the BRS found it difficult to maintain party unity. Plans to run candidates in other states could not be carried out.
There has been controversy over KCR's intention to create a dynastic rule by elevating his son, nephew, and daughter to prominent positions. It was interpreted as a move away from the party's original ideals and an indication of growing authoritarianism.
Second, aside from elevating his family, Rao, like many other autocratic dictators, was unable to establish a second tier of authority.
Thirdly, kcr, who became the leader of the opposition through agitation and protests, gradually stopped appearing in public. The gap between him and his leaders and employees has been greatly exacerbated by his lack of accessibility and dislike of the media.
Rao surrounded himself with shallow individuals who did nothing but compliment him. Because of this, he was unable to recognise the truth and was duped by his supporters into believing lies.
With the exception of a tiny minority called the Velamas, no caste group supports kcr as opposed to Chandrababu, who enjoyed the support of the kamma community. His downfall can be attributed in large part to this political isolation.
Fifth, there were claims of wrongdoing. Due to suspected wrongdoing in the delhi liquor case, his daughter kavitha is currently incarcerated.
Sixth, kcr started experimenting with national politics and visited the states governed by the opposition with the overt goal of becoming prime minister, rather than focussing on the state. However, he was unsuccessful. In the most recent poll, BRS was unable to establish the government as a result of this hesitancy.
Seventhly, like many previous tin-pot dictators, he believed that he and his party were unstoppable and that they would be able to govern telangana forever.
Finally, BRS experienced defections. But while he was the chief minister, he had also incited defections.
KCR has now joined the ranks of significant figures who were formerly in power but are currently suffering, like Sharad Pawar, Lalu prasad Yadav, Edapadi Palaniswamy, Deve Gowda, Mayawati, and uddhav Thackeray. It's similar to playing snakes and ladders in politics.
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