Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BRS, BSP decide seat-sharing deal in Telangana

As the Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharat Rashtra Samithi have allied for the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao announced that Nagarkurnool and Hyderabad Lok Sabha seats will be given to BSP. There are a total of 17 constituencies in Telangana. 

In an official statement, BRS said that Rao has allocated the two seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party. On March 5, the BRS and BSP announced a pre-poll alliance in Telangana for the LS polls following talks between KCR and state BSP president R S Praveen Kumar.

KCR had claimed that the two parties shared similar ideologies on several issues because his previous BRS government had instituted Dalit Bandhu and other programs for the welfare of Dalits and other groups.

The state BSP chief had stated that his party has chosen to collaborate with BRS to protect Telangana from the BJP and also “Congress, which is becoming like the BJP”. He also claimed that the BJP is the reason secularism is in jeopardy in the nation.

The BRS on March 13 reported that KCR and other party leaders met at the latter's home in this city. Ramji Gautam, a member of the BSP Rajya Sabha, and Praveen Kumar were also present.

The BRS has so far announced its candidates from 11 Lok Sabha seats. These candidates include Nama Nageswara Rao (Khammam), B Vinod Kumar (Karimnagar), Maloth Kavitha (Mahabubabad) and Koppula Eshwar (Peddapalli).

Nageswara Rao and Maloth Kavitha are members of the outgoing Lok Sabha. Vinod Kumar is a former Lok Sabha member, while Koppula Eshwar was a minister in the previous BRS government.

The BRS president took the decision after holding consultations with important leaders in the respective parliamentary constituencies, and following a consensus on the names of the candidates. 

(With PTI inputs)