Hyderabad: The districts are abuzz with ‘KCR Cup’ sporting events, thanks to the 15-day deadline set by TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar for party MLAs and other leaders to enrol 50,000 members in each Assembly constituency, half of them from among the youth.
To attract youngsters, TRS MLAs and party leaders have come up with the idea of conducting sporting events for the ‘KCR Cup’. The CM’s birthday falls on February 17, in the middle of the membership drive, and party leaders expect to put up a big show to highlight the event.
Party leaders are organising cricket, volleyball and football tournaments from the villages right up to the district level. The prize money ranges from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh and participants are provided sports kits, T-shirts and shoes.
The CM’s daughter and Nizamabad MLC K. Kavitha's Telangana Jagruthi is extending cooperation to organise the events.
The focus on younger members is because the party wants to show that the BJP’s claim that the youth are angry with the TRS and joining the BJP is false. The membership drive started on February 12 and ends on February 26.
During the previous membership drives, Chandrashekar Rao used to give nearly three months for leaders to complete the exercise. Now, they have just 15 days with an insistence on more youth members.
Youth are being asked to enrol for these tournaments along with party membership at respective party offices at mandal, Assembly constituency and district level. Party leaders are paying the membership fees as well.
The TRS has two types of memberships: To become an active member the fee is Rs100 and to become a primary member, Rs 30. The party has given a target to incharges to make sure that 35 per cent of the members are active members.
The TRS also provides free accident insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh to members, for which the premium is paid by the party, TRS leaders are highlighting this aspect while asking youth to join in.
The scheme began in 2015 and the party has so far paid premium Rs 47.65 crore. Claims of Rs 46.84 crore have been made till date. The total sanctioned claims were 79 per cent; the money was given to family members of 2,342 deceased workers of the party.
