The TRS chief asked senior leaders to identify potential candidates in these states and field them in the assembly elections or the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Sources said KCR wants to tap into Telugu voters in states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi and expand his party’s footprint in these states.
To get the status of a national party, the TRS must secure at least 6% of the valid votes polled in four or more states in the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. Once it attains the status of a national party, it may have its own symbol (the car symbol in the case of TRS/BRS), which will be allotted to its candidates across the country.
Sources said the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) may have to wait till 2026 to get the national party tag. Election Commission of India ,ECI) reviews the national status of the parties once in 10 years. The last review was done in 2016 and the next review is four years away.
Party sources said that though assembly elections are due in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat in the next few months, KCR is keen to contest elections only in Gujarat and Karnataka.
“Thousands of Telugus, especially weavers, have settled in places like Surat and other textile hubs in Gujarat. The party will field candidates in the next assembly elections. In Karnataka, the proposed BRS will have candidates in the border areas of Raichur, Bidar. In Kalaburagi and Bengaluru. Thousands of Telugu people have settled in Bengaluru and many are working as software engineers. Even in Delhi, there are a lot of Telugu people who have made the state their home,” said a senior TRS leader. Told.
Telangana It shares a long border with Maharashtra with districts like Sangareddy, Kamareddy, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Asifabad and even the nearby Mancherial of that state. A TRS leader said, “The leaders of Nanded district were requested to contest the elections on our party ticket.”
KCR is believed to be reviving his contacts with senior national leaders like Sharad Yadav. The TRS president is also planning to give tickets to leaders of farmers’ unions, intellectuals, former civil servants and representatives of Dalit unions in UP and Delhi.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP had given tickets to former civil servants and leaders from different sectors. The strategy had paid off in Delhi. People are looking for politically neutral persons,” a TRS MP Told.