Hyderabad: The first sign of rumblings in the Bharata Rashtra Samithi post its severe drubbing in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections emerged on Monday with party senior leader V. Prakash demanding a senior position for former minister T. Harish Rao in the party.
He wanted Harish Rao, most popular among rural masses, to be made state BRS president or at least another working president of the party, a post that K.T. Rama Rao, son of party president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, has been holding.
What is more interesting is that Prakash found fault with Chandrashekar Rao for not heeding his earlier suggestion with regard to the elevation of Harish Rao in the party ranks. Prakash’s comments made in an interview to a web channel is doing rounds in the social media.
Confirming his statement to Deccan Chronicle, Prakash said he would soon meet Chandrashekar Rao and raise the issue. “I tried pushing the proposal even before elections but could not succeed,” Prakash said.
Maintaining that Harish Rao was a very good leader, Prakash said while he (Harish Rao) was popular among the rural masses, Rama Rao enjoyed support among the urbanites. Harish Rao proved his mettle by winning seven out of 10 seats in Medak, Prakash said adding that the former minister’s services were not utilised for rest of the rural Telangana which had resulted in the party’s defeat.
Prakash claimed that he had discussed his proposal with party leaders at different levels and everyone was in agreement that the BRS needed someone like Harish Rao to lift it from the doldrums it is in.
Prakash said that he had broached the subject before the Lok Sabha elections and Chandrashekar Rao had taken notice of it. “At that time he said that it was the view of some leaders and not that of the whole party, but now more and more people are veering towards this idea,” Prakash said.
“I will be meeting KCR soon and tell him again how the proposal can help the party regain its footing. Telangana needs a regional party and since KCR is the national president and KTR is the national working president, the slot for the state unit president is open and it should be given to Harish Rao who has great acceptance among the people and within the party,” he said.
Though Rama Rao and Harish Rao have never fought it out openly, it’s also an open secret that both did have serious differences and clash of interests earlier when the BRS was in power.
The Rama Rao camp, with the tacit support of his father, had made attempts to undermine Harish Rao. At one stage, according to party leaders, Harish Rao used to tell his visitors that he was helpless in getting things done in the government as officers were instructed not to heed to his requests and proposals.
However he bounced back after 2019 Lok Sabha set back and consolidated his position particularly after Etala Rajendar was shunted out.
Even after the poll debacle, Harish Rao, according to his own party leaders, had been fighting against the Revanth Reddy government on public issues and was more impactful than the BRS working president. “Everyone has seen how Harish Rao has put the Congress government on the backfoot on the farm loan waiver issue. Revanth Reddy is on the defensive because of Harish Rao. The party needs to give him charge and he can change the BRS fortunes for the better,” said Prakash when asked what prompted him to revive his pitch.
Harish Rao, however, underplayed Prakash’s observations and said that they were his personal views and not much significance should be attached to them.
