The issue of renaming the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) back to its original name Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has resurfaced in Telangana politics once again, generating a big debate.
The development comes in the wake of reports that Telangana Jagruthi president and former BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha has applied to the Election Commission of India for the registration of TRS, to corner the BRS leadership, though she has no intention to use the same.
However, on Sunday, BRS working president K T Rama Rao indicated that the BRS might go back to its original name TRS, as there has been a growing demand from grassroots leaders and cadre to restore the original name.
During an interaction with the media in Mancherial, he acknowledged that a proposal exists to revert to TRS, citing the strong emotional connect associated with the name.
“Yes, it was a mistake to change the name of TRS into BRS before the last assembly elections. We had lost the Telangana identity with that decision. Now, there is a demand for returning to our original name. The final decision will be taken by party president K Chandrashekar Rao soon,” KTR said.
Originally founded as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi during the statehood movement, the party was rebranded as BRS to expand its national footprint. However, political analysts believe the move may have backfired.
The party suffered setbacks in both assembly and Parliamentary elections, failing to secure even a single Lok Sabha seat.
Observers attribute part of this decline to the emotional disconnect created after dropping the word “Telangana” from the party’s name.
Now, political circles are actively debating whether the party will revert to TRS or adopt a new name incorporating “Telangana” ahead of the next elections.
Analysts say returning to the original name of TRS will be yet another blunder by the BRS leadership.
“It will be a further loss of face for the party and give the impression that the party is trying to cash in on the Telangana sentiment just for the sake of votes. Secondly, it will also send a message to the party cadre that the BRS leadership is afraid of the growth of Kavitha’s Telangana Jagruthi as an independent party, grabbing the Telangan advantage,” an analyst added.