HYDERABAD: In North Telangana, the BRS is beginning to look beyond electoral setbacks and turn its attention to the harder task of reclaiming political ground. The party has stepped up its grassroots activity, with a series of public meetings packed into a month, signalling a renewed focus on a region that was once among its strongest political bases.
The sequence, from the Singareni Karmika Garjana at Godavarikhani to farmers’ meetings in Adilabad and Nirmal, will culminate in the Deeksha Diwas celebrations in Karimnagar on November 29. The choice of issues and locations is hardly incidental. Workers, farmers and the party’s political legacy are central to an attempt to reconnect with constituencies where its influence has weakened.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao has taken the lead in this renewed outreach, following an assessment of the party’s performance in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Party leaders say the exercise is aimed at rebuilding the organisation, addressing concerns raised by its cadre and reconnecting with sections of its traditional support base. Party supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao is understood to have tasked Rama Rao with reviving activity in the region.
The setbacks have been particularly pronounced in the erstwhile Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad districts. The BJP won the Nizamabad and Adilabad Lok Sabha seats in 2024, as well as Karimnagar, consolidating a presence in areas where the BRS had held considerable influence since 2004. Its growing vote share and gains in Assembly constituencies have added to the challenge.
The BJP’s expansion has not been confined to electoral campaigns. State affairs in-charge Sunil Bansal’s padayatra, efforts to promote BC leadership in the erstwhile Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts, and Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s position as a Minister of State have helped strengthen its organisational visibility.
For the BRS, recalling its governance record alone may not be enough. The party continues to cite employment opportunities for 18,000 dependent families in the Singareni region and the benefits of the Kaleshwaram project to the erstwhile Karimnagar district. But electoral outcomes suggest that this record has not translated into votes as expected.
The immediate challenge is to recover lost support while contending with both the BJP and the ruling Congress. In politics, old loyalties can provide a starting point, but they cannot be taken for granted.
The BRS’s concentrated push in North Telangana suggests it recognises that rebuilding its fortunes will require more than recalling its past record; it will have to re-establish its presence on the ground.
