Radiance News
Hyderabad, Jan. 13: One-and-half months after losing power in Telangana, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has begun efforts to win back the support of Muslims for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
During the last few days, its top leaders ruled out alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and claimed that BRS is a true secular party.
Referring to some media reports that BRS may join hands with the BJP to make up for the defeat in Assembly elections, senior leader Harish Rao termed them as a conspiracy to distance the party from minorities.
“Some people are trying to tarnish the secular image of the BRS. Misleading reports in a section of media are part of this conspiracy,” he said.
As part of the efforts to reach out to Muslims, Harish Rao visited Darul Uloom Rehmania in Hyderabad and called on Ulama who had gathered from different parts of the state for a meeting.
The former minister said BRS leader KCR never compromised with communal forces. The BRS always tried to safeguard secularism and promote communal harmony. He said the BRS came to power in 2014 and 2018 with the support of secular forces, especially minorities.
He also claimed that during its nine-year rule, BRS promoted Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb and kept Telangana free from communal tension. He mentioned that BRS spent Rs.12,000 crore on development and welfare of minorities in these nine years.
Harish Rao said the false propaganda against BRS impacted the results in the recent Assembly elections. Claiming that BRS still enjoys the support of Muslims, he exuded confidence that BRS will win 14 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
In a gesture seen to convey that there is no change in BRS stand, party’s working president K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) also visited the house of a Muslim trader, who had invited him through a tweet. While hailing the BRS for the work undertaken by its government, Ibrahim Khan had invited Rama Rao to his house in the Borabanda area. The BRS leader who had accepted the invitation visited his house on January 7.
“Happy to have kept my promise to Ibrahim Khan Bhai. Visited his home in Borabanda; Met his affectionate family who offered fabulous Biryani and sheer khurma. Loved the food and hospitality,” KTR later posted on X.
The BRS leader also shared that he offered to assist Ibrahim Khan’s nephews who are hearing impaired.
While addressing a party meeting, KTR made it clear that there is no question of an alliance with the BJP. Stating that BRS was never a team of BJP, he said the party neither had an alliance with the BJP nor will it join hands with BJP in future.
KTR mentioned that in the recent Assembly elections it was BRS which defeated three sitting MPs and two MLAs of the BJP.
The BRS leader said that in his 45-year-long political career, BRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao never had a direct alliance with the BJP.
KTR alleged that Congress tried to damage the prospects of BRS by colluding with the BJP. He said in the previous Parliament elections, BJP and Congress together defeated BRS. He claimed that even in bye-elections the two parties were together.
He alleged that BJP is misusing religion for politics. “If BJP leaders are political Hindus, KCR is a Hindu who views a religion as only a religion,” he said while claiming that BRS is a truly secular party.
