BRS-BSP announce alliance for Lok Sabha polls

In a joint press conference held at the BRS chief's residence in Nandinagar here, Chandrashekhar Rao declared that BRS and BSP would contest the Lok Sabha elections together, citing shared ideologies and goals.

Hyderabad: In a significant development, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Tuesday announced their alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Telangana. The decision was reached during a meeting between BRS president and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and BSP Telangana president RS Praveen Kumar.

In a joint press conference held at the BRS chief’s residence in Nandinagar here, Chandrashekhar Rao declared that BRS and BSP would contest the Lok Sabha elections together, citing shared ideologies and goals. He said Praveen Kumar approached him with the proposal after taking approval from BSP chief Mayawati and that they had come to an in-principle understanding to enter into an alliance.

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“Both BRS and BSP have common ideologies and goals. The BRS implemented several welfare schemes for the weaker sections including Dalit Bandhu, residential welfare schools and others in Telangana. We will finalise the issues pertaining to seat-sharing and other specifics in a couple of days, after I speak to Mayawati-ji, who is an old acquaintance,” he said.

When asked about Praveen Kumar’s candidacy from the Nagarkurnool constituency, Chandrashekhar Rao pointed out that as the State president of BSP, he could contest from any location in the State. He assured that seat-sharing decisions would be made in a mutually beneficial manner.

Praveen Kumar criticised the BJP for threatening the secular fabric of the nation and attempting to undermine constitutional provisions for weaker sections. He expressed dissatisfaction with the Congress rule in Telangana, terming it akin to the BJP and causing trouble within four months of its rule.

“Former Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao has been a strong secular voice. Our alliance aims to protect Telangana from the influence of both the BJP and Congress, with a focus on preserving the Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb and benefiting weaker sections in the State,” he asserted.

Earlier, the BSP-delegation led by Praveen Kumar called on Chandrashekhar Rao at the former’s residence in Nandinagar in Hyderabad. The leaders from both the parties held discussions for about an hour before announcing the alliance.

BRS senior leaders T Harish Rao, Vemula Prashanth Reddy, J Santosh Kumar, Balka Suman, MLC Deshapathi Srinivas and others were present at the meeting.