HYDERABAD: The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), which looked invincible before Assembly elections, is likely to face another challenge in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.BRS chief and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao nurtured national ambitions and embarked on expansion of his party activities by holding massive public meetings in Maharashtra. He even planned to test the waters and field his party candidates in some Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra.
But the unexpected defeat in the State Assembly elections has dealt a staggering setback to the BRS’ grandiose plans and turned KCR’s dreams upside down. If the party achieved a hat-trick it would have received a big boost to its LS electoral strategy in the neighbouring state.
Top sources in the party stated that Chandrasekhar Rao wanted to contest from Medak Lok Sabha constituency which he represented earlier and in all likelihood from Nanded in Maharashtra as well in the coming parliament elections if the BRS came to power in Telangana. But that was not to be and the BRS chief is said to have shelved his plans.
KCR will take a call if any leaders in Maharashtra wants to use BRS symbol to contest in Lok Sabha elections, according to a key leader in the BRS. The former chief minister had organised nine meetings including two training session in Maharashtra between March and July before Assembly elections in Telangana.
The party was prepared to field candidates in Nanded, Aurangabad, Solapur, Nagpur and some other segments in the neighbour state. For now, KCR is said to be viewing the Lok Sabha elections as a good opportunity to regain the lost ground in Telangana, which means his expansion plans have to wait.