Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Monday was de-recognized as a state party in Andhra Pradesh by the Election Commission of India.
The EC’s orders reveal that the party was given three opportunities to defend its status. However, the party did not show up at the hearings.
The party working president KT Rama Rao on Tuesday said that the de-recognition of BRS as a state party status in Andhra Pradesh is just a ‘technicality’.
BRS which was formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi was launched on 27 April 2001 by K Chandrashekhar Rao, the current chief minister of Telangana and the president of BRS party.
The party was recognised as a state party in Andhra Pradesh, before the bifurcation of the state in 2014. After the formation of the two new Telugu states, the party retained its recognition as a state party in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Nine years after the bifurcation, the party loses its recognition as a state party which the party’s working president in Telangana termed as a ‘Technicality’.
The criterion for a ‘state party’:
For any party to be recognised as a state party by the Election Commission, it must fulfill any of the following criterion:
- In the last general election to the Legislative Assembly in the state, the party’s candidates must secure at least 6 percent of the total votes polled in the state as well as secure 2 MLA seats in the state
- In the last general election to Lok Sabha from the state, the party’s candidates must secure at least 6 percent of the total votes polled in the state while securing at least 1 Lok Sabha seat in the state
- In the last general election to the Legislative Assembly, the party must win at least 3 percent of the total number of MLA seats in the state or 3 MLA seats, whichever is more in the state
- In general elections to Lok Sabha, the party should have won at least one MP seat for every 25 seats allotted to the state
- or, in the general elections to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly in the state, the party’s candidates must secure at least 8 percent of the total votes polled in the state.
What is the ‘Technicality’?
This criterion is stated in the Election Symbols Order, 1968, paragraph 6A. The Paragraph 6C, after a recent amendment, states that a review of the recognition status of the parties will be done after every two consecutive Legislative Assembly or Lok Sabha elections.
After the bifurcation in 2014, the BRS won 63 of 119 Assembly seats in Telangana and formed the government. In the 2018 general elections, the party won 88 of 119 Assembly seats and once again formed the government.
According to the Election Commission, the BRS did not contest in either the general elections of 2014 or 2019 to Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly in the state of Andhra Pradesh. This shows that the party could not win any seats in the Assembly or Lok Sabha from the state for two consecutive general elections.
Based on these poll performances of the party, the Election Commission de-recognised BRS as a state party in Andhra Pradesh, thereby making Telangana the only state where BRS is recognised as a state party.
BRS’ absence at EC recognition status review:
On July 18, 2019, the Election Commission issued a show cause notice to BRS where the party was given an opportunity to submit its comment on why the status as a state party should not be withdrawn from the party. According to the commission, BRS did not appear for the hearing in response to the show cause.
The review process of the poll performances by the commission was put on hold due to the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Another hearing was scheduled by the commission regarding the party’s status in AP on December 27, 2021, but the party did not show up again.
The final hearing on the matter was scheduled again on March 20, 2023, by the commission and the BRS still did not show up for the hearing instead the party sent a request letter to EC.
The party, in its letter, requested the commission to continue the recognition of BRS as a State Party in both the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana till the general election to Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly that were to be held in 2023 and 2024.
“The disjointedness of the timeline of review, triggered by Covid, has provided ample opportunities for the party to regain the impugned status as a state party,” said the commission in its orders.
BRS after the de-recognition:
The de-recognition of BRS as a state party in AP could strip the party of certain privileges like the exclusive allocation of the party symbol. However, this does not mean that the party is doomed.
“In any case, as electoral cycles progress, nothing prevents the party to regain its status as mandated,” said the commission while withdrawing the recognition of the party.
The party’s working president in Telangana has also echoed similar sentiments by stating that, BRS party has never contested in general elections in AP in the past, but the past is not an indication of the future.
Andhra Pradesh BRS chief Thota Chandrasekhar on Sunday said that BRS will contest all 175 seats in the next assembly elections as well as all 25 parliament constituencies, in Andhra Pradesh.
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