BRS not B-team of any party, says KCR in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday said that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is not a “B-team” of any party. He was responding to Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) claim that his party was contesting in Maharashtra as part of the BJP’s plan to divide the opposition votes.

The BRS chief was addressing a public meeting in Maharashtra after visiting the Pandharpur temple. KCR arrived in Maharashtra’s Solapur district for a two-day pilgrimage to Pandharpur on Monday accompanied by his cabinet colleagues, elected members and office bearers of the party. “Everyone is attacking us; BJP, Congress, and NCP. Congress is calling us the BJP’s B team while the BJP is calling us the Congress’ A team. We are no one’s team… we are a team for the farmers, the poor and the downtrodden,” said Rao while addressing a rally in Maharashtra’s Solapur.

While Rao, in his speech, slammed the Shinde-BJP government for not doing enough for the farmers in the state, he also poked holes in the MVA claim that the ‘Karnataka model’ of getting the BJP government voted out can be implemented in Maharashtra. “Elections will come and parties will come and go out of power, but that will not change the people’s condition. In Karnataka, the BJP lost and the Congress came to power, it has not changed anything on the ground. The same policies are being run. We need to bring a real change and elect a government that really works for the people,” said Rao.

The latter’s rally also saw the entry of several mid and lower rung functionaries from other parties, including the NCP. Sources said that in the next few days, a few functionaries from the BJP might also join the BRS. Interestingly, on Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde seemingly defended Rao over the “B team” allegation. Responding to allegations of Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Shinde said, “They were the ones who first welcomed them and called them home for lunch and now they are calling them the B team. This shows their (Uddhav group) double standards. We have nothing to do with him (Rao),” Shinde said.

He was referring to the Telangana chief minister’s meeting with Uddhav Thackeray at his residence in February last year.