The Maharashtra elections to be held in November could have been slightly or significantly different had the Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) not spiraled downhill in the past year. In the Assembly elections held in November 2023, the party, which had been in power for a decade in Telangana, lost to Congress. In the general elections of 2024, the regional party failed to win a single seat in Telangana. With back-to-back blows, the BRS has gone from nursing national ambitions with an expanding footprint to now fighting for its existence on its home turf.
In 2022, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) rebranded itself as BRS to expand to other states. It started units in other states, including neighboring Andhra Pradesh. However, Maharashtra was the most significant target. The party launched membership drives, inducted former MLAs, MPs, ex-MPTCs, and ZPTCs as well as other senior leaders from the state, with a focus on the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. It even opened an office in Nagpur.
Party supremo K.Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) conducted multiple public meetings in the state, eyeing the farmers vote bank by promoting his own pet schemes being implemented in Telangana under his leadership. The party also considered contesting a significant number of seats in these region. However, with the polls approaching, the decline of BRS has been quicker than anticipated.
Its former state unit president, Manikrao Kadam, joined the NCP in March this year.
"My intention was not to leave the party. We had all envisioned implementing KCR’s model here, but it wasn’t working out. I didn’t have answers to the questions people were asking. So, I decided to move on," he said.
The Maharashtra affairs were managed by Vamshi Kalvakuntla, KCR’s nephew. However, since the party's loss in Telangana, his activities in Maharashtra have come to a standstill. Former MP Haribhau Rathore and ex-MLA Charan Waghmare also left the party in the past few months.
This month, a faction of the BRS Maharashtra unit merged with Sharad Pawar’s NCP.
"The BRS offices in Maharashtra are deserted. Nobody is seen there," said a former BRS Maharashtra unit party worker. As it stands, the party has practically lost its name and identity. A senior leader and ex-MLA, Shankar Anna Dhondge, who was previously with the BRS, has rebranded the party as the Maharashtra Rajya Samithi (MRS). He has formed alliances with smaller parties and pro-farmer political outfits. However, during his campaigns, he is still seen retaining the pink flag that is synonymous with the BRS.