The launch of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Andhra Pradesh and the appointment of Thota Chandrasekhar as its president of AP unit has triggered a lot of speculations over the plans of party president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the neighbouring Telugu state.
KCR, who is planning to address a big rally in Andhra Pradesh very soon and appoint the party leaders in various districts, is learnt to have also started the exercise to identify the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies where he can field the BRS candidates in the next elections.
According to sources, the BRS leadership has entrusted the task of identifying these constituencies to Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) hired by KCR to work out the strategies for the party in Telangana.
The I-PAC has been asked to conduct a survey on the people’s response to the BRS in Andhra and the impact it will have on other parties, if it contests elections there.
“Besides, the survey will also cover other issues like how people of Andhra are looking at KCR’s welfare schemes and governance in Andhra; whether they are welcoming KCR to Andhra to expand the BRS and what they are thinking about his fight against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre,” sources said.
It is learnt KCR is planning to field the BRS candidates in at least 20 assembly constituencies, if not more, besides four to five Lok Sabha constituencies.
Most of these constituencies are in the Andhra-Telangana border, besides north-coastal Andhra and parts of central Andhra.
“It is immaterial whether the BRS will be able to win any seats in the Andhra elections. If it can win considerable vote share, it will help KCR to gain some political advantage in the coming years. If the BRS can win two or three seats, it will be a big boost to his national mission,” sources said.