An office for ‘National’ KCR: BRS gets a Delhi address, down ‘welfare’ road

However, there were remnants of the events couple of hours earlier: large posters of “Ab ki baar kisan sarkar (This time around, a farmers’ government) dotting the two kilometre stretch leading up to the venue; a huge banner flung across the building in the party’s signature pink, a deity in the main hall on the first floor – the party held poojas through the morning on account of an “auspicious day” – and flower decorations lining entrances to the media hall, the CM’s chamber and each one of the 20 rooms for party members.

A party release said: “Amid chanting vedic hymns, BRS Chief KCR inaugurated BRS Bhavan at the auspicious time of 1.05 pm by cutting the ribbon…A large number of BRS workers thronged the office premises since morning. This created an atmosphere of a big excitement among the leaders and party workers in the premises.” (Image source: BRS)

A party release said: “Amid chanting vedic hymns, BRS Chief KCR inaugurated BRS Bhavan at the auspicious time of 1.05 pm by cutting the ribbon…A large number of BRS workers thronged the office premises since morning. This created an atmosphere of a big excitement among the leaders and party workers in the premises.”

Just across the BRS building, which is next door to the Samajwadi Party’s Delhi office, are a cluster of homes. A resident, who has been living there for five years and did not wish to be named, says she was “unaware of the party” until the office’s construction began in September 2021. This is also echoed by a 18-year-old boy in the area who says he does not have “an idea of the policy’s schemes or policies but knows of it as a Telangana-based party”.

For the party activists though, from the cadre level to the MPs, this office marks a significant step in its bid to go national, a “logical progression” of the party’s ambition, which has been envisaged as a venue that would host Opposition talks on national issues. They also believe the route to the national centrestage is through the party’s flagship welfare schemes.

Take, for instance, 30-year-old Teja, a “dedicated party worker since his college days” who has KCR’s face tattooed on his arm. “Consider Dalita Bandhu scheme, wherein a SC family gets Rs 10 lakh in cash and the Rhythu Bandhu through which every landowner gets Rs 5,000 each farming season for every acre he owns. These two are enough. You have to remember Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a Gujarat CM first and was known for his developmental work. That made him PM. KCR’s Telangana has also become a role model.” Yeshwanth, a 16-year-old party worker who has “participated in a party padayatra before” said he came to the venue from Telangana’s Munugode because he was “attracted to KCR’s work”. Without missing a beat, he too mentions the two schemes as “crucial” features of the KCR government.

V Prashant Reddy, the Telangana minister for roads and buildings, legislative affairs and housing, was responsible for overseeing the office’s construction in Delhi. He says: “We obtained the land when we were TRS, as we wanted a place for political conversation in Delhi. But as BRS, now as we wish to assume a greater role in national politics, this was necessary. We feel the Narendra Modi-led BJP government is against Telangana. We will bring together like-minded parties.”

“We are making our first steps into Maharashtra with whom we share a long border. The idea to expand there came after people of the state — with whom we have cultural connections through marriage for example — expressed interest in our policies of free power, KCR kit for new mothers, among others. There was a huge response to our Nanded rally too.”

Rajya Sabha MP KR Suresh Reddy says: “The BRS’ national vision has been outlined by KCR garu. The reason for our scaling up is clear– we see a vacuum in national politics. And KCR is the only leader in the last seven or eight years who has come up with an alternate narrative to the religious polarisation of the BJP and self-centered focus on the PM. KCR speaks of development, keeping in mind the resources we have in the country, whether its power or water or even human resource.’

“It is the development agenda around which KCR garu hopes to bring the Opposition together…This office sends a signal out to the country that the party with a clear, people-focused agenda has set up an office in Delhi. It will take forward our line of activity in Delhi – we have been vocal about farmers issues, joined hands with other Opposition parties on issues, played a critical role in Parliament in the last Budget session. The mood at the time of the inauguration was spirited and vibrant, despite very little mobilisation efforts.”

Dharmapuri MLA and minister for scheduled castes development and minority welfare in Telangana, Koppula Eshwar, also speaks of “moulika(foundational) issues” such as “agriculture, IT sector, health” that he says KCR has focused on.

He adds, “We have seen many CMs but there are very few that have identified key issues and found solutions for them. Take any key parameter, Telangana performs well. In fact, BRS was only looking at the state and its problems but has been forced to looked in the national direction because of the BJP’s attitude.”

Eshwar claims that many parts of the country have not seen the developmental work underway in Telangana. “Take BJP-ruled Karnataka, for instance, it is right across the border from us. But you will see electricity is not available, or support to farmers, or welfare schemes.”

A member of the SC community himself, he too speaks of the Dalita Bandhu scheme that he says could be a “permanent solution to the problems plaguing the 30-35 crore poor, Dalit community in the country”.

On national expansion, he says: “It is a step-by-step process even if it takes time. The people will definitely be looking at the party and its vision. Even as the movement for a separate Telangana was growing, a lot of doubts were cast. We achieved the state…now see the growth rates in the state.”