Mission Bharat

'Aab Ki Baar Kisan Sarkar.' This slogan brings nostalgic moments to fore. It was April 27, 2001, a sultry day. There was a small ordinary dais at Jal Vihar Grounds from where TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao announced the formation of the pink party. A clarion call for achieving a separate state was given on the day. The purpose of the struggle was to have self-governance so that people of this region are not deprived of their right to resources like "Nidhulu, Neellu, Niyamakalu."

Initially, it was felt by many, including the Congress leaders, that KCR had embarked on an impossible task. Two days later, I had an opportunity to get the first interview of KCR in his Jubilee Hills residence. He explained in detail as to what made him to quit the post of Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and the ruling Telugu Desam Party. Also spoke about the need to form TRS and eventually separate Telangana.

When asked about the comments that were being heard against him, KCR said this was just the beginning and there would be many more comments and allegations against him. His confidence of achieving his goal was really striking. We have seen 13 years of his long struggle, and how he had built Telangana agitation and made it a national issue and finally succeeded in getting a separate state carved.

Similar confidence was seen on Friday at Telangana Bhavan when KCR announced the agenda of the newly-formed Bharat Rashtra Samithi. The difference now is that he is the second term CM and has a massive cadre and good popularity among leaders from other parts of the country.

The TRS happens to be the first political party from South of Vindhya to start its journey to become a national party. The goal of this proposed national party is to strive to bring in a qualitative change in national politics and governance and ensure all-round development of the country. "It is a small light in darkness," is how KCR described the attempt. Normally, politicians from North do not give political space for parties from South. KCR very well knows about it. But being a person who doesn't take a regressive step and as one who has good rapport with the leaders from North, it is certain that with his persuasive skills KCR would be able to unite like-minded parties and change the destiny of the country. The journey of the BRS towards influencing politics in North would begin from Karnataka which will go to polls early 2023. If his efforts to bring the JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy to power succeed, it would be the first victory for the BRS and would give a boost to its efforts to usher in farmer-friendly government at the Centre.

The journey certainly is not a smooth one. The ten-year-old party AAP is also in the race to emerge as a challenger to the BJP and has got recognition as a national party on Thursday. The BRS will have to work out its strategies to see that it plays the role of a catalyst to gain political space in the Hindi belt.