Expansion Mode: Bharat Rashtra Samithi Opens First Office In Maharashtra

Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K Chandrashekar Rao on Thursday inaugurated his party's office in Nagpur, its first in Maharashtra, as part of his ambitious plan to increase the organisation's footprint outside his home state.

He expressed concern over farmer suicides in Maharashtra and pitched for his "Telangana model" of development in the state.

Mr Rao, popularly known as 'KCR', was accorded a warm welcome by the workers of his party on his arrival at the Nagpur airport around 3.45 pm, after which he inaugurated the BRS office located near Sai temple on Wardha Road.

Addressing a gathering in Suresh Bhat Hall here, Mr Rao said people were struggling for water, electricity and proper price for agricultural produce even after 75 years of Independence.

"Farmers are committing suicide in the country, most of which is witnessed in Maharashtra. Despite so many rivers flowing across the state, why are farmers ending their lives," he asked.

He said 24-hour power and water supply in Telangana had reduced farmer suicides considerably there.

There is a need for a new national water policy, said Mr Rao, whose BRS government has been in power since Telangana's formation in 2014.

Several former legislators and leaders from Maharashtra joined BRS during the event in the presence of Mr Rao.

In December last year, the KCR-led party had changed its name from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to underline its intention of becoming a pan-India party.

Last month, Rao announced a month-long programme to expand the BRS party's network in over 45,000 villages in urban civic bodies in Maharashtra.

Accordingly, on May 22, the BRS began its drive to form party committees in the state as part of its exercise to go beyond the confines of its traditional stronghold Telangana.

Mr Rao recently held rallies in parts of Maharashtra, mostly in Nanded, where he slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre and the one in Maharashtra led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for neglecting farmers and the downtrodden.

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