Will Name Change Work For KCR and TRS?
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-10-06 07:40:22
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The India Commentary view
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As announced earlier, K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), Telangana chief minister and supremo of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), transformed his regional party into a national party by changing the name to Bharat Rashtra Samiti to give wings to his ambitions to play a bigger role in national politics. But, as Shakespeare said, a rose remains a rose by any other name, so TRS will remain TRS - a regional outfit with almost no infrastructure outside the state and leaders known only in Telangana.
Many regional parties (AAP, TMC and TRS being the main) have been enthused by the downturn in the fortunes of the main national opposition party, the Congress, and the perception that it is vacating the opposition space in state after state (which of course is true as the Congress vote share is going down alarmingly) to think that they can flex their muscles and occupy this space. But the problem is that apart from AAP, and to some extent the TMC (in Tripura and Assam) none of the others have any presence in any other state. AAP succeeded in Punjab mainly as it was active there for the last 6 years and it cultivated leaders in that state. But AAP and TMC could not succeed in a small state like Goa. Then, a plethora of regional outfits turning into national outfits and contesting elections in several states will further divide the opposition vote and that will benefit the BJP.
Further, most opposition parties are trying to forge a united front to take on the BJP. Now, if these parties start displaying national ambitions, they will encroach upon the strongholds of other parties which they are trying to bring on the same platform. This will give rise to conflict of interest. Also, huge funding is needed to establish an all-India infrastructure and run an army of foot soldiers without which nothing is possible and which these parties do not have and are unlikely to get.
Hence, it is not likely that that TRS, or BRS now, will be able to make a dent in national politics. In fact, there is the danger that if KCR loses focus in Telagana, despite readying his son K T Rama Rao and daughter Kavitha as his heirs, he might end up losing Telangana to the BJP while not gaining anything of significance on the national stage.
