Hyderabad, April 16 (). The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) which is hoping to contest next year’s elections on its election symbol Ambassador car, has suffered a setback with the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to withdraw the party’s recognition in Andhra Pradesh.
Chief Minister of Telangana K. The party headed by Chandrasekhar Rao, earlier known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), has appealed to the Election Commission not to derecognise the party as it plans to contest elections in the neighboring state next year.
Party leaders say they are not surprised by the Election Commission’s move. BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao said that since the BRS did not contest the elections in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, the action of the Election Commission was a mere technicality.
The BRS lost the state party status in Andhra Pradesh as it did not fulfill the criteria and conditions laid down by the Election Commission.
The Election Commission pointed out that the BRS did not contest the 2019 assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, the party’s electoral performance does not match any of the criteria set for recognition as a state party there.
The BRS leadership also did not appear before the Election Commission to clarify the issues raised by the Election Commission in the letter sent to the party high command. However, the party had requested the Election Commission in this regard.
The BRS had in March requested the Election Commission not to derecognise the party in Andhra Pradesh as it plans to contest the 2024 elections. The Election Commission had issued a notice asking the party why its recognition in Andhra Pradesh should not be canceled as it did not contest the assembly and parliamentary elections in 2019.
The Election Commission recognized TRS as a regional political party in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2004. Since the 2014 elections were held weeks before the formal bifurcation of the state, TRS remained a registered party.
The TRS contested the assembly elections in Telangana in 2018, but did not participate in the simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections in neighboring Andhra Pradesh in 2019. Therefore, the Election Commission had given notice regarding the recognition status in Andhra Pradesh.
Notices are issued by the Election Commission to periodically review the status of recognized parties on the basis of their performance in Lok Sabha or Vidhansabha elections.
Since TRS has recently been renamed as BRS and is planning to contest the next elections in Andhra Pradesh, the party leadership has urged the Election Commission to retain its status as a recognized party in Andhra Pradesh. With regard to other states, it said it would seek recognition when it gets the mandatory seats and vote shares.
Political analysts say the EC’s move is a blow to the BRS, which is planning to enter Andhra Pradesh politics by contesting next year’s assembly polls.
BRS will contest all the 175 seats in the next assembly elections as well as all the 25 parliamentary seats in Andhra Pradesh, said Thota Chandrasekhar, chief of the BRS in Andhra Pradesh.
Since the BRS is also looking to make its presence felt in Maharashtra soon by contesting the local body elections, its plans are likely to get hampered as it will not get the car symbol. The party must choose a free symbol.
On October 5, 2022, in the General Assembly of TRS, it was decided to change the name of the party to BRS. With the approval of the Election Commission for this change, the name of TRS officially became BRS on 8 December 2022.
The party later opened its national office in Delhi and appointed a party president in Andhra Pradesh.
The party is targeting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It is looking to increase its presence in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Odisha. It hopes to get national party status from the Election Commission and contest elections on a common symbol.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao had earlier said, since the ambassador car symbol given to us has not been allotted to any party in the country, we will request the Election Commission to recognize the BRS as a national party. This will give us the facility to contest elections in many states.
However, it is still not clear whether the BRS can get a single symbol to contest the elections in the states.
As per the Election Commission of India’s Election Symbol Reservation and Allotment Order, 1968, party symbols are allotted to recognized parties only.
As per the guidelines of the Election Commission, to be recognized as a national party, a party needs to secure a vote share of six per cent in at least four states or represent at least one seat each.
As per the Election Commission’s norms, a political party must fulfill the following conditions to be eligible for recognition as a state party in the state: securing at least six per cent of the votes polled in the last assembly election, winning two assembly seats ; securing at least six per cent of the votes polled in the State in the last Lok Sabha election and winning one Lok Sabha seat; winning at least three per cent of the seats in the last assembly election; winning at least one Lok Sabha seat for every 25 members allotted to the State in the last general election; At least eight percent of the votes polled in the last general election to the Lok Sabha or to the State Legislative Assembly.
AKJ/SKP
Follow Niharika Times for all the big news from India and abroad. Like us on Facebook and Twitter . Always visit Niharika Times for latest news.