Why BRS leader KT Rama Rao calls alliance with BJP an 'absurd idea'
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao has ruled out any truck with the BJP for the assembly elections in Telangana in 2028. Taking part in the session ‘Beyond Cyberabad: The Case for Telangana’s Next Decade’ at the India Today Conclave South in Kochi, Rao reminded that his party had contested all previous state elections without any alliance with the BJP.
On the issue of delimitation, Rao said the BRS would support the move if the Union government promised that the seat share of southern states would continue to be 24 per cent of the total strength of Parliament. He said the southern states had controlled population more effectively and the increase in seats should be proportionate so that the states are not penalised.
Rao suggested that the Union government first start by increasing the number of seats of state legislatures since it is the MLAs who work more closely with the people. Rao alleged the BJP-led Centre would not do so in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh since the BJP has little presence in these states.
On the Election Commission (EC) row, Rao demanded that the allegations of rift in the poll body be probed by a Supreme Court judge. He said there are very few issues on which he concurs with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and that this was one of them.
On the potential for a third front in national politics, as attempted by former Telangana chief minister and BRS founder K. Chandrashekar Rao, K.T. Rama Rao said politics is the art of the possible and anything could happen on way to the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
Rao praised Gen Z for taking on the Union government over the examination irregularities. He said numerous promises made by the Centre, including bullet trains by 2022, making India a $5 trillion economy by the same year, and generating 20 million jobs annually, had not been fulfilled, and the government’s focus was on issues like Uniform Civil Code.
Rao said that under the BRS government, a young state like Telangana had done exceptionally well, with impressive jumps in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), per capita income and paddy production. IT employment shot up from around 327,000 in 2014 to 1 million by the end of the BRS government’s tenure in 2023.
