KCR to finally rekindle public life for next Telangana polls

Hyderabad: After a long hiatus and break from pubic life following the BRS’ defeat in 2023, party supremo and ex-Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) will finally get more politically. According to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) insiders, KCR will start to get more active closer to the end of 2026 and will only amp up the party’s campaign for the 2028 elections.

“He was not very active, especially for the first two years, because he genuinely believes that a first time CM should be given some time. Now that half the term of the Congress government has passed, KCR will start attacking the party more,” a BRS functionary told Siasat.com. He added that KCR will start slowly addressing more public meetings and rallies to keep a sustained campaign going till the next Telangana Assembly elections.

The BRS lost the 2023 state elections to the Congress, which secured 64 out of the 119 Assembly constituencies. KCR’s party managed to get 39 seats, while the All India Majiis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got seven and eight seats each respectively. While the BRS has also been hit by about 10 defections by MLAs to the ruling party, the legislators formally have not quit to the anti-defection law.

Moreover, since 2023, two by-elections have also been held to the Jubilee Hills and Secunderabad Cantonment seats, both of which he Congress won. With the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections also approaching, the BRS can’t afford to be lax anymore as it will in all likelihood have an impact on the next Telangana Assembly elections.

KCR still a larger than life personality in Telangana

Though the BRS lost the elections, KCR still enjoys a larger-than-life personality given that he spearheaded the Telangana statehood movement from 2009 to 2014 until the state was bifurcated from Andhra Pradesh. Many observers have noted that despite his loss, the BRS supremo still has no equal in terms of individual personalities from across parties.

While incumbent CM Revanth Reddy has directly attacked him constantly, KCR for most parts has not addressed him directly or acknowledged him. This in a way signifies that he still does not look at anyone as his equal. However, this may change if the BRS supremo has to sharpen his attacks on the current Congress government.

“Of course he will have to address Revanth directly. The plan now is to sustain momentum for the next two years until the coming Telangana Assembly elections. Small sections of people had grievances with the BRS which were not addressed, and lots of those issues will be addressed,” added the BRS leader. In the 2023 elections, KCR had contested from the Medak and Kamareddy seats.

While he won from his traditional Medak seat, KV Ramana Reddy of the BJP beat both the KCR and Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy which turned out to be a high stakes contest.

Analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy pointed out that the ruling Congress currently does not enjoy a good reputation in Telangana for its governance and that if KCR is back in full swing the BRS may be back in power again. “Even if he begins his campaign in 2027 it should suffice,” he added.