A few days after the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) changed its name to the Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS), its leaders put up banners and posters showing an incomplete map of India in several places all across Hyderabad. The map, put up by party leaders including MLA for Khairatabad Danam Nagender and others, depicts Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Aksai Chin outside of India.
Notably, the banners included pictures of local party leaders as well as a picture of BRS leader KCR on the map. The banners depicted a part of Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan. Following the publication of this billboard, the ruling party has been called into question. Arvind Dharmapuri, a BJP MP from Nizamabad in Telangana, uploaded the poster on Twitter, in which half of Kashmir is missing from India’s map.
By removing PoK frm Indian map,he is supporting Pakistan
— Arvind Dharmapuri (@Arvindharmapuri) October 10, 2022
This map is promoted&supported by Pakistan
Is KCR following legacy of Nizam who wanted to merge erstwhile Hyd. State with Pakistan? Is this the motive behind launching National Party?
(Image:https://t.co/IIO81b3eYE)(2/2) pic.twitter.com/IelWsLek3m
The BJP MP wrote in his tweet, “The territory of the country has been defined in Article 1 of the Indian Constitution. Entire Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India. KCR’s party is supporting Pakistan by removing PoK from the country’s map.”
The BRS (previously TRS) has been embroiled in a slew of controversies in the recent past. On Monday, October 10, Y Satish Reddy, the social media convener of the BRS, received widespread condemnation for a Tweet mocking the most venerated Jain monk Tarun Sagar.
The fury erupted after the BRS leader tweeted an old picture of the Digambar Jain monk blessing PM Narendra Modi with his sacred Chamara or ceremonial fly-whisk. The BRS leader had captioned the Tweet, “Idiots working under him are now talking about black cats, tantriks, etc,” thereby implying that Tarun Sagar was doing “black magic” on PM Modi.
Numerous religious leaders and Jain community members fiercely condemned Reddy’s social media post, which the TRS leader quickly withdrew after the outpouring of criticism.
TRS leader Rajanala Srihari was recently spotted handing away liquor bottles and chicken to Warangal locals on October 4. This was just before the TRS was launched on a national level under the name BRS.
#WATCH | TRS leader Rajanala Srihari distributes liquor bottles and chicken to locals ahead of Telangana CM KC Rao launching a national party tomorrow, in Warangal pic.twitter.com/4tfUsPgfNU
— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2022
Telangana Chief Minister KCR changed the name of the TRS to BRS last week, heralding the party’s entry into national politics ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. After a conference in Hyderabad, the party’s general body approved the name change proposal.
Though some believe that KCR’s decision to enter national politics would help him gain political clout, others believe that it will be a costly mistake for him. Meanwhile, the BJP accused KCR of abandoning Telangana’s people, claiming that the BRS president exploited the emotion of declaring Telangana as a distinct state as a bridge for his family to grab the state’s top power structure.
