‘Con, BJP’s divisive politics’

metro india news  I Kochi

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday asserted that his party’s political resurgence in Telangana would far outstrip its 2023 electoral setback, while sharply criticising both the Congress and BJP for prioritising divisive politics over development and jobs.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave South 2026 at the Grand Hyatt in Kochi on the topic “Telangana State – Formation to Transformation,” Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, reflected on the state’s journey since its creation in 2014 and outlined BRS’s vision for the future.

The two-day conclave, themed around the South’s role in India’s growth, brought together political leaders, policymakers and cultural figures from the region to discuss federalism, delimitation, governance, investment and related issues. 

KTR declared that the BRS comeback “is going to be much bigger than the setback,” striking a confident note about the party’s prospects ahead of the next assembly elections. He reiterated that party president K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) would return as chief minister, stating clearly that he himself would not seek the top post. “I will not be the Chief Minister… KCR will be the Chief Minister,” he said, adding that people in Telangana were already regretting their support for Congress and longing for KCR’s leadership again within the next couple of years.

The BRS leader accused the two national parties of sidestepping core issues. “BJP wants to divide the country on religious lines. Congress CM Revanth wants to divide our own Gods, Ram and Shiva. These are two National Parties! Where is the discussion on jobs? On the promises the BJP made?” KTR asked, highlighting what he described as a failure to focus on employment generation and fulfilment of electoral commitments. 

He also claimed that Telangana’s people were suffering the consequences of believing Congress’s “420 promises” and were now yearning for a return to BRS rule. KTR used the platform to revisit Telangana’s formation story and its subsequent transformation under nearly a decade of BRS governance.

He positioned the state as a model of rapid progress in areas such as irrigation, agriculture, industry, infrastructure and welfare after decades of neglect, arguing that the BRS decade had turned a drought-prone, migration-hit region into one of India’s more prosperous states. The interaction allowed him to contrast that record with the performance of the current Congress government in Telangana, which he portrayed as a period of disappointment for voters.

The session formed part of broader discussions at the conclave on southern India’s political and economic trajectory. Other speakers included Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan, Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and various policymakers and cultural personalities.

Topics ranged from defence manufacturing and maritime security to caste-based reservations, minority representation, education-to-employment linkages and federal tensions around delimitation. For BRS, still recovering from its loss of power in the 2023 Telangana assembly elections, KTR’s appearance offered a high-profile opportunity to project confidence and attack rivals on a national stage. 

As working president, he has been the party’s most visible face in opposition, frequently highlighting governance shortfalls under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy while defending the record of the previous KCR administrations.Observers noted that KTR’s remarks on KCR remaining the chief ministerial face underscored the party’s continued reliance on its founder’s leadership brand. By framing the next contest as a choice between proven transformation under BRS and what he called unfulfilled promises and divisive politics by national parties, the BRS leader sought to set the narrative for the years ahead.

The India Today Conclave South, held over September 29 and 30, provided a forum for regional voices to address questions of power-sharing, economic opportunity and cultural identity in a changing national landscape. KTR’s intervention added a distinctly Telangana perspective, blending nostalgia for the statehood movement and the subsequent development phase with a forward-looking claim that BRS was uniquely positioned to deliver again.

As the conclave concluded its second day, KTR’s message of a stronger comeback resonated among party supporters tracking the event closely. Whether that confidence translates into electoral recovery remains to be tested, but the Kochi interaction made clear that BRS intends to contest the narrative of Telangana’s recent political history on its own terms, centring development achievements, leadership continuity under KCR, and a critique of both Congress and BJP priorities.