BRS, BSP to contest LS polls together

A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting between BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and BSP Telangana president RS Praveen Kumar here on Tuesday.

Hyderabad:In a significant development, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have officially announced their plans to contest together in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to be held next month. A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting between BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and BSP Telangana president RS Praveen Kumar here on Tuesday.

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

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“Both the BRS and BSP share 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 nitty-gritty after I speak to Mayawati-ji who is an old acquaintance,” he said.

Praveen Kumar said the BJP was trying to destroy the secular fabric of the nation and even conspiring to overrule the constitutional provisions for the weaker sections. He felt that the Congress too is proving to be no less than BJP in Telangana.

“To safeguard Telangana from these two political parties, we have decided to work with the BRS. Former Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao has been a strong secular voice and our alliance is aimed to protect the Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb of Telangana,” he said.

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.