Telangana

Boost for BRS in Odisha as former CM Gamang, son join pink party

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Taking his national agenda a step further and into another neighbouring State, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday welcomed former CM of Odisha and nine-time MP Giridhar Gamang and his son Shishir Gamang into his party.

Gamang represented the Koraput Lok Sabha constituency from 1972 to 1998 and was elected once again in 2004. Koraput, which is in southern Odisha, has a sizeable Telugu-speaking population which is likely to connect with Rao’s policies.  

The 79-year-old tribal leader resigned from the BJP on Wednesday.  Terming Gamang a “senior leader with a spotless character”, Chandrasekhar Rao welcomed the former CM apart from four former MPs and 12 former MLAs from Odisha into the BRS. After admitting Gamang into the party, Rao said that Telangana model of development would be implemented across Odisha.

Rao has already appointed an Andhra Pradesh president, Thota Chandrasekhar, and is slated to visit Nanded in Maharashtra on February 5. BRS supporters say Rao has a good chance of expanding his party in Odisha, as there is no strong opposition to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the BJP is still struggling to gain a foothold.

Earlier this week, while hinting at leaving the BJP, Gamang and his son Shishir spoke about the vacuum in the Opposition space in Odisha. Addressing a gathering later in Hindi, Rao said that Telangana suffered a lot in united Andhra Pradesh. “But now, there are no farmers’ suicides. There is no migration of farm labour from the state. Those who migrated to other states in the past are coming back to Telangana. When this is possible in Telangana, why not in other states,” Rao said.

In an indirect swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, KCR told his listeners: “What I am saying is not dhan ki baat but mann ki baat.” Rao emphasised that “India is blessed with abundant resources, more so than the US and China. But where does India stand in the world? It is far behind US and China. We have water and power. But the leaders here are giving big speeches and not providing drinking water to the people. The BRS was founded only to change this,” KCR said.

Connecting to the local issues of Odisha, Rao asked: “How much water is available in Mahanadi? Why is the water not flowing to our houses? Why is there a shortage of drinking water,” Rao asked as the audience endorsing him shouted “Desh ka neta KCR”.

The Telangana Chief Minister alleged that the BJP-led Central government was “socialising the losses and privatising the profits”.It was burdening people by increasing gas and petrol prices and handing over profit-making PSUs to private companies. The Odisha leaders and their followers would visit several places in Hyderabad on Saturday and later they would interact with Rao to discuss political issues.

LEADERS from odisha who joined BRS

Girdhar Gamang Ex-CM, Odisha
Hema Gamang Ex-MP (Wife)
Shishir Gamang (Son of Gamang)
Shaurya Gamang
Snehranjan Das - Gen Secretary, BJP State Yuva Morcha
Rabindra Mohpatra - Youth President & AICC Member, Koraput Parliamentary
Constituency
Phalguni Sabar
P Gopal Rao
Malya Ranjan Swain

SCROLL FOR NEXT