KCR appoints BRS functionaries in UP, Maharashtra

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao expedited plans to expand the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in other states by appointing functionaries in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra on Wednesday.

Besides, the BRS chief also appointed incharges for the zilla parishad and panchayat samithi polls in Maharashtra, especially for districts bordering Telangana.

While farmer leader Himanshu Tiwari, of Jaunpur, was appointed the party’s general secretary for the UP unit, divisional coordinators were appointed in Maharashtra. These include Dasaratha Sawanth for the Nashik division, Balasaheb Jairam Deshmukh for the Pune division, Vijay Tanaji Mohite for the Mumbai division, Somnath Thorat for the Aurangabad division, Dyanesh Wakudkar for the Nagpur division and Nikhil Deshmukh for the Amaravati division.

The appointments come shortly after Rao appointed Manik Kadam as the president of the BRS Kisan Cell in Maharashtra.

According to party sources, the Chief Minister directed the party incharges in Maharashtra to tour districts frequently after Holi and undertake BRS activities aggressively.

Given the upcoming local body polls in Telangana, MLAs Balka Suman, Jogu Ramanna and G. Nagesh were appointed as incharges for Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, Washim and Wardha districts, respectively.

The Chief Minister is expected to appoint a few more BRS leaders as incharges for districts in Maharashtra soon.

Who is the UP leader appointed as BRS general secretary for the state?

Thirty-one-year-old Himanshu Tiwari comes from a line of freedom fighters in Jaunpur of Uttar Pradesh. Since 2015, he has been active in farmers’ agitations at the national level, including the nationwide agitation against the land acquisition ordinance and coordinating farmers’ movements across the nation.

He was also part of the United Kisan Morcha in 2020-2021 and a national executive member of Samyukt Kisan Morcha that vociferously opposed the three agriculture laws.

Tiwari is also credited with launching a 21-day Jan Jagran Padayatra from Champaran in Bihar to Benares in Uttar Pradesh and mobilising thousands of people.