BRS gears up for membership drive ahead of local body polls

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi is set to launch its membership drive by next month. Preparations are underway as the party eyes the upcoming local body elections. Delays were caused by legal developments and KTR’s foreign trip. Committee formation begins soon.

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is gearing up to launch its much-awaited membership drive next month, with preparations likely to begin by the end of June. The party leadership is in the process of forming enrollment committees to oversee the exercise across all levels.

The successful silver jubilee and foundation day public meeting in Warangal this April, had reinvigorated the BRS cadre. The party chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao‘s rousing speech boosted morale, with the rank and file now eager to ramp up party activities ahead of the long-pending local body elections anticipated to be held in the next two months.

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Though the membership drive was initially scheduled for June, it was reportedly delayed due to unexpected developments such as the Justice PC Ghose Commission’s notices to Chandrashekhar Rao and senior leader T Harish Rao in connection with the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project probe. The party working president KT Rama Rao’s overseas visit to the UK and USA also said to have contributed to the delay.

Party sources said the membership drive is long overdue and the party leadership is keen to conduct it at the earliest as local bodies elections are expected to be held over next two months. If delayed any further, the membership drive will be taken up only after the elections to local bodies are completed.

The BRS currently boasts over 60 lakh members, one of the highest among regional parties, and was among the first to extend life insurance to its members. Once the membership drive is completed, the party will reconstitute its committees and affiliated bodies from the village to the State level, followed by the election of the party president, slated for October.

“The BRS chief has been monitoring developments closely. Committee formation and timelines can be finalised within a fortnight,” a party general secretary involved in the process told Telangana Today.