CM KCR’s data shows Telugus can positively impact BRS in five states

HYDERABAD: Aiming to assert his power in national politics with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will ramp up his efforts to admit leaders from other parties after Sankranthi to make inroads into Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Odisha, before the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

According to party insiders, the CM has completed a preliminary exercise to launch BRS activities in these five states within a month, and has obtained Assembly and Lok Sabha constituency-wise data and information on the socioeconomic, economic, cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds of these states to assess where the BRS can impact either independently or in partnership with other parties or organisations representing Dalits, OBCs, and STs.

The CM is also exploring the possibility of contesting Assembly polls in a few states where they will be held prior to the Lok Sabha elections. The data obtained by the CM show that they have have a considerable Telugu-speaking population. According to the data, this population is comparatively lower in Kerala, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

According to party insiders, after reviewing the data, the CM concluded that, with the exception of Telugu states, the Telugu-speaking population could impact the results in nearly 30 Lok Sabha seats in the other states. The CM was supposed to launch BRS farmers' wings in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh by December-end, but it was postponed until Sankranti because the CM wants to ponder further on the data, sources said.

"The CM has set himself a target to identify 100 Lok Sabha seats as part of Mission-100 where BRS has potential to win on its own or in alliance with other parties or with the support of organisations belonging to Dalits, OBCs, STs, farmers, women, youth, students etc. While BRS will attempt to strengthen on its own by admitting leaders from various parties and organisations in other states, it will also explore the chances of aligning with other parties and organisations," a senior BRS leader said.

The data obtained by the CM showed that Telugu speaking people can show impact in 40 Assembly seats and 14 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, 22 Assembly and 8 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, 12 Assembly seats and 3 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, 18 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

The data also revealed that there are 12 lakh Telugu speaking people in Odisha and 4.50 lakh in Odisha and they can influence election results in 16 Assembly and 6 Lok Sabha seats in both these states. However, it was found that there are just 1.20 lakh Telugu speaking population in Kerala, 99,000 in Puducherry, 2.90 lakh in Uttar Pradesh, 85,000 in Madhya Pradesh, 72,000 in Rajasthan, where the party leadership wants to align with other parties and gain foothold in those states.

Where Telugu speaking people can show impact

Karnataka: 40 Assembly seats and 14 LS seats

Maharashtra: 22 Assembly and 8 LS seats

Chhattisgarh: 12 Assembly seats and 3 LS seats

Tamil Nadu: 18 LS seats

Numbers game: Telugu speaking population

Odisha: 12 lakh

Chhattisgarh: 4.50 lakh

(Telugus in these states can influence election results in 16 Assembly and 6 Lok Sabha seats)

Uttar Pradesh: 2.9 lakh

Kerala: 1.2 lakh

Puducherry:  99,000

Madhya Pradesh: 85,000

Rajasthan: 72,000