As BRS bleeds, a buffed-up BJP has a problem of plenty

The BJP sees an opportunity for itself in Telangana as the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) crumbles in the aftermath of its Assembly election loss. However, inversely, as BRS leaders make a beeline for the BJP, the latter is struggling to balance the expectations of its original cadre and the demands of its new entrants.

On a hot afternoon, at the house of BRS Karimnagar MLA Gangula Kamalakar, its Karimnagar Lok Sabha candidate and former MP B Vinod is giving a pep talk to 50-odd sombre-looking ward and booth in-charges. BRS leaders admit morale is extremely low among the cadres, with a feeling having set in that the Lok Sabha elections are for the Congress or the BJP to win.

A confident-sounding Vinod says that when he was nominated for the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat against sitting BJP MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, even his supporters believed he had no chance. However, he says, things have changed. “Having worked very hard, visited each and every village and household, we have regained some of the lost ground. The cadres have started believing we can put up a fight.”

However, few share Vinod’s optimism in a party that even till a year ago was riding so high that its chief K Chandrashekar Rao was nursing dreams of leading a national Opposition front. The loss of power in Telangana, whose creation was the raison d’etre of the BRS, KCR’s illness soon after, and the arrest of his daughter K Kavitha in the Delhi liquor excise policy scam have been blows that have left the party reeling.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, of Telangana’s 17 seats, the BRS had won nine, BJP four, Congress three, and AIMIM one.

Forlorn BRS cadres say there are no directions from the top, and they have been reduced to constantly clarifying that KCR’s health is