TRS is now BRS for 2024: Why KCR's 'national party' bid is easier said than done? Know how EC decides on the status

Seeking to expand its electoral footprint beyond Telangana ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao last week renamed his ruling party Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS).

The rechristening of the TRS came over two decades after the founding of the party with the objective of carving out a separate Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. KCR’s dream was fulfilled in 2014 when the Congress-led UPA government carved Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh. Since then, KCR’s party has been winning elections in Telangana. 

The renaming of the party with an aim to establish KCR as a national leader is being watched by political pundits. According to news agency PTI, while some are seeing it as a move that could help increase KCR’s status nationally, others fear it could turn into a misadventure. 

While KCR has decided to take the leap to the national stage, the road for the BRS to become a “national party” recognised by the Election Commission will not be an easy one. 

How a party gets ‘national party’ status?

Whether a political party can be recognised as State Party or National Party is governed by the provisions of Paragraphs 6A and 6B of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allottment) Order, 1968. 

According to the Election Symbols Order, a political party can be recognised as national party if, and only if, it fulfills any of the following three conditions: 

1.The party is recognised as “state party” in at least four states. 
2.The party candidates contesting elections in any four or more states have secured at least 6 per cent of the total valid votes polled in each of those States in the last Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections. In addition, at least four of these candidates should be elected to the Lok Sabha from any of these states.
3.The party has won at least 2 per cent of the total Lok Sabha seats in the last election and the party’s candidates have been elected to that House from not less than three States.

As of today, eight parties have been recognised as the “national party” by the Election Commission. They are the Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party and National People’s Party. 

The Aam Aadmi Party is also bidding to become a national party. Founded in 2012, the Arvind Kejriwal’s party is in power in Delhi and Punjab and has been recognised as State Party in Goa after contesting the Assembly polls there earlier this year. The AAP now needs State Party recognition in one more state to get the National Party status. The party is contestingh the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later this year. 

Besides the recognition of BRS as a National Party, another big question remains whether TRS -- founded in 2001 with a single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state -- will manage to capture any space in national politics; whether KCR's leadership will be accepted in other states, especially in the north.

In 21 years of its existence, the TRS has focused on issues of Telangana while not having cadre base in other states. KCR’s announcement to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is similar to what Arvind Kerjiwal did in 2014. Back then, the AAP contested over 400 seats and ended up winning just four seats. 

Another fact is that the BRS lacks a pan-India face, except KCR. While his Hindi-speaking skills may have an impact in the northern belt, the party will face a tough time in other states.