Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders from Telangana have categorically denied any potential alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This clarification follows recent reports suggesting that BRS working president KT Rama Rao and former minister Harish Rao had met BJP leaders in Delhi to discuss a possible coalition.
“Why would KCR give any advantage to the BJP and let them grow in the state? KTR and Harish Rao were in Delhi to consult lawyers about Kavitha’s bail, not to meet with BJP leaders. If we were considering an alliance with the BJP, our MLAs would have stayed for the central government support. However, defections to the ruling Congress in Telangana continue,” a BRS leader from Hyderabad stated.
Another BRS official dismissed any chance of a BRS-BJP alliance, emphasizing that former party MP B Vinod’s remark, “anything can happen in politics,” should not be taken seriously. “KCR is far more influential than the BJP. He led the statehood movement. We just need to wait, and the Congress will eventually undermine itself,” he added.
Recently, a report from a national daily suggesting that the BRS might merge or collaborate with the BJP caused quite a stir. However, BJP leaders in Telangana have also indicated that they are not interested in such a move.
In Telangana, the BJP aims to expand independently, especially after securing 8 out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the recent elections. The Congress also won 8 seats, and AIMIM retained the Hyderabad seat, while the BRS did not win any. In the 2023 Assembly elections, the Congress took power by winning 64 of the 119 seats, while the BRS secured 39. Since then, 9 BRS MLAs have defected to the Congress.
