BRS, BSP decide to have alliance in LS polls

Hyderabad, March 5: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Tuesday decided to have an alliance for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

This was announced by BRS President K. Chandrasekhar Rao and BSP Telangana state President R. S. Praveen Kumar after a meeting on Tuesday.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said since both parties share the same ideology, they have, in principle, decided to work together in the coming polls.

The former Chief Minister said seat-sharing and modalities will be worked out after talks with BSP supremo Mayawati in a day or two.

He recalled that the BRS government implemented several programmes including Dalit Bandhu for the welfare of Dalits.

Praveen Kumar said secularism in the country faces a threat from the BJP. He alleged that Congress was also following the footsteps of the BJP. The BSP leader mentioned that KCR strived for the protection of secularism. He said he would submit a report to the BRS leadership on the issue of seat-sharing and it will take a decision.

The former IPS officer hoped that this friendship between the BRS and the BSP would benefit the people of Telangana.

He said not even three months had passed since the new government assumed office in the state, but the unemployed were facing severe hardships.

The BRS, which lost power to Congress in the recent Assembly elections, on Monday announced candidates for four out of the state's 17 Lok Sabha seats. In 2019, the BRS had bagged nine seats. Three of its sitting MPs last week switched loyalties to the BJP and the Congress.

The BSP had contested Assembly elections on its own but drew a blank. The BRS had won 39 seats in the 119-member Assembly.