Telangana chief minister and leader of the newly renamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), K. Chandrashekhara Rao is looking at the upcoming Assembly polls in Karnataka as the first outing for his outfit as an electoral force outside Telangana.
Senior office bearers in the BRS told The Hindu that Mr. Rao has instructed all party MLAs and MPs to help ally H.D. Kumaraswamy and his party Janata Dal (S) in the upcoming polls in Karnataka. This will not just be in terms of providing organisational and logistical help in fighting resource rich BJP and Congress party in the state, but also campaigning extensively in the seats that fall in the Telugu speaking regions bordering Telangana, also known as Hyderabad Karnataka.
“There are around 41 Assembly seats where there are a significant number of Telugu speakers and BRS MLAs and MPs have been asked to campaign for the Janata Dal (S) in those areas,” said a senior office bearer of the party. At the launch of the newly renamed BRS, there was much talk that the JD(S) may like to fight on a BRS symbol, but that is not a possibility now. Former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and VCK chief and Lok Sabha MP Thol Thirumalvalan had attended the opening of the BRS office in New Delhi recently.
Mr. Rao is expected to address a rally or two during the campaign for the Karnataka Assembly polls as well and has, according to those in the know, started familiarising himself with the seats that the party has offered help on. Sources add that Zahirabad MP, B.B. Patil, belongs to the Lingayat community largely found in Karnataka, and will be deployed on behalf of the BRS, as will Narayankhed MLA Rajendra Reddy who has business interests, including several medical colleges in Karnataka. “Whenever H.D. Kumaraswamy arrives for meetings with K. Chandrashekhara Rao, Reddy accompanies the former,” said a source.
Polls to the Assembly in Telangana are also on next year, but a few months later than Karnataka. Mr. Rao is hoping that a good showing by the JD(S) may be an early boost for the BRS and its ambitions outside Telangana.
