HYDERABAD: Once considered firmly entrenched, the BRS cadre and second-rung leaders are getting increasingly anxious over the approaching local body elections, expected next month.
These elections are being seen as crucial not merely for local control but for the pink party’s wider ambitions to regroup and mount a credible bid to regain power in the next Assembly elections.
Understandably, discussions at village- and mandal-level invariably veer towards the growing anxiety among BRS cadre and second-rung leaders about the organisation’s preparedness, or lack thereof, to face voters.
With the top BRS leaders facing inquiries and investigations into allegations of irregularities regarding the Kaleshwaram project and the Formula E race, the cadre and second-rung leaders have been hoping that former MLAs would step up and anchor the party.
However, several former MLAs remain conspicuously missing from the public eye, and aspirants for the local body seats express unease over the absence of financial and organisational backing from the leadership. Doubts loom large over who will bankroll the campaign or lead the electoral effort at the ground level.
In Greater Hyderabad and surrounding constituencies, the BRS had won a clear majority in the last Assembly elections. Yet, in rural areas, once considered the party’s stronghold, the mood has turned uncertain.
Leadership vacuum
Reports suggest that former ministers and defeated MLAs visit their constituencies only sporadically, stoking concerns over who will command and coordinate the village- and mandal-level campaigns. This vacuum of leadership has sparked heated discussions among local aspirants and party workers, who feel directionless at a crucial juncture.
Party insiders admit that except for the Warangal public meeting, which was attended by key figures including MLAs, MLCs and former legislators, the leadership has remained largely silent.
The appearance of former chief minister and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao before the PC Ghose Commission saw a unified turnout from various districts, but there were no follow-up agitations or protests against the Congress government.
This lack of political mobilisation, sources insist, has deepened disillusionment among the party’s grassroots base.
Adding to the discontent is the perception that the party’s focus remains limited to Hyderabad, with little effort directed towards district or Assembly headquarters to energise the cadre. Some local leaders openly voice their disappointment with what they describe as the leadership’s indifference to rural concerns, warning that this neglect could cost the party dearly.
Seizing the initiative
Meanwhile, the Congress government has seized the initiative, aggressively rolling out populist schemes such as Indiramma housing, superfine rice distribution, Rajiv Yuva Vikasam loans and the Rythu Bharosa agricultural support scheme. These measures will undoubtedly help the Congress make inroads into the BRS’s rural voter base.
The contrast between Congress’s visible outreach and the BRS’s apparent inertia is reportedly causing unease within pink party circles, fuelling speculation over the party’s electoral prospects.
A former MLA from North Telangana confided that the party leadership has not even convened constituency-wise meetings to bolster the confidence of potential candidates and supporters. The absence of such engagement, the leader warned, risks leaving aspirants without the organisational or financial assurances needed to mount a serious campaign.
He also urged the party high command to urgently summon parliamentary and Assembly constituency-level meetings to galvanise the rank and file and prepare for an effective challenge against the Congress.
Without such corrective measures, party insiders fear, the BRS may face not only electoral setbacks but an existential crisis.