Blues after the pink slip

BRS is preparing to come back strongly in Telangana. But Congress and BJP are not giving it any breathing space. ADITI PHADNIS reports from Hyderabad

- ADITI PHADNIS

Saffron pran pratishtha flags marking the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya flutter from hundreds of rooftops in Patancheru, Telangana, braving the dust-laden winds. Barely 30 km from Hyderabad, Patancheru is the recipient of the rapid infrastructural development the city has seen. Suspended particulate matter in the air is an inevitable byproduct. The township hugs the MumbaiHyderabad highway and is home to hundreds of stone crushers, small and big, that sit between massive skyscrapers coming up in the area. The dust creates spectacular sunrises. And sunsets. That is the only upside.

Patancheru was devoted to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) until recently. "Until a few months ago, the flags were all pink," says Ramesh, a small kirana shop owner. Pink is the colour of the BRS, previously the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which was unseated from the government in the 2023 Assembly elections. As the Lok Sabha elections approach, the politics of Telangana - which sends 17 members to the Lok Sabha is undergoing tumult.

With the Congress in power in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) snapping at its heels, the BRS is now fighting an existential battle.

Patancheru illustrates this best.

On October 5, 2022, at exactly 1.10 pm, as astrologers had advised, K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), then chief minister, changed the name of his party from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), signifying new national ambitions for a party that had come into being only about two decades ago.

The astrologers got it wrong.

After its defeat in the 2023 Assembly elections, the clamour within the BRS to return to its original name is growing. Politics in Telangana is taking a new turn.