The Election Commission of India has approved the name Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) for the new political party launched by K Kavitha, confirmed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Despite Kavitha originally proposing Telangana Rashtra Sena at the party’s launch, the Commission retained the initials TRS.
Kavitha’s father, former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, had previously founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) before renaming it Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Kavitha inaugurated her party at Advaya Convention in Medchal on April 25, seven months after parting ways with the BRS. She emphasised her desire to keep the TRS initials, stating, “We have worked for this name for our lifetime. 20 years of our blood and sweat have gone into making TRS a successful party. We have achieved the state of Telangana.”
Criticising her former party, BRS, and the ruling Congress party, Kavitha claimed, “The aspirations of the youth and farmers were not fulfilled. Unfortunately, after things took a wrong turn, the aspirations of the people of Telangana, the aspirations of the youth of Telangana, were never fulfilled. The aspirations of the farmers of Telangana were never fulfilled. Neither in the BRS’s 10 years nor in the two years of Congress.”
She added that the newly launched TRS will focus on regional issues, stating, “TRS will be fundamentally a regional party. It will be focused 95 per cent on the regional issues. One of the core issues that I will fight for is the OBC 50 per cent reservation.”
The launch drew reactions from political leaders across Telangana. BJP leader NV Subhash alleged collusion between Kavitha and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, describing the new party’s formation as a tactic to split BRS votes.
BRS spokesperson Ravula Sridhar criticised the move, asserting that parties formed from “narrow interests, hatred or personal agendas” cannot endure.