BRS Working President KT Rama Rao
Credit: PTI Photo
Hyderabad: Come September, a team comprising former ministers and senior leaders from the opposition BRS in Telangana will be travelling to several states across the country where regional parties have a strong presence to learn a lesson or two on resurrecting the organisation.
BRS would be studying DMK, AIADMK, TMC, BJD, YSRCP, and a few others. Party working president and KCR's son, KT Rama Rao, will also visit a few states.
"Each regional party has a different structure. We have completed 24 years. This is the first time we are sitting in opposition. It's a new role. For the first 14 years, our party was synonymous with the fight for statehood. Last ten years, we were in power. We also have to learn, unlearn, adopt and make a fresh beginning. After studying those parties and experiences, we will start new committees, launch a new membership drive and undertake all other necessary tasks. We already have committees, but wherever new committees are required and if there are any gaps that have to be filled, it will be done after these visits," said KTR.
A few days ago, a BRS team led by former MLA Suman visited the DMK head office, Anna Arivalayam, in Chennai and interacted with former MP RS Bharati and former MLA Shekhar of the Dravidian party.
The BRS team, which termed it a preliminary study visit, said they tried to understand the DMK's structure at all levels, from state to district to block.
After losing power to Congress in last year's assembly polls and failing to win even a single seat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the Pink Party is facing an existential crisis with at least 10 of its total 38 MLAs jumping the fence, as well as the rise of two national parties — Congress and BJP in the state.
Many believe that during his time in power, BRS patriarch K Chandrashekar Rao neglected party structure, and with the departure of MLAs, a leadership void is emerging in certain areas.
Sources in the Congress camp have indicated that a few more BRS MLAs are considering leaving the party.
At this juncture, the KCR-led party has decided to delve into the organisational structure and other aspects of regional parties that have endured political upheavals. The teams will study especially how the regional parties in their respective areas have withstood the 'machinations' of national parties and survived.
When in the Opposition, how these parties could keep their flock together is also one of the main aspects the BRS teams will study.