Telangana President Jagruthi and former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter, K Kavitha, on Saturday launched a political outfit, called ‘Telangana Rashtra Sena’ (TRS), and outlined a five-point agenda focusing on social justice, free education, healthcare and employment.
Addressing a large gathering at a private convention center in Medchal on the outskirts of Hyderabad, Kavitha said the party was formed to build ‘Samajika Telangana’ (socially just Telangana) and ensure fair opportunities for SCs, SCs, religious communities, minorities, women and youth.
“A political party must have a soul and an agenda. Political power is necessary to implement this agenda and fulfill the aspirations of the people. The new party TRS is a means to achieve this purpose,” she said.
Launching a sharp attack on KCR, Kavitha alleged that he lost touch with the spirit of the Telangana movement after becoming chief minister in 2014.
“The present KCR is completely different from the KCR of the Telangana movement. Earlier, he was sympathetic, accessible and committed to people’s struggles. After coming to power, he has become detached and unresponsive. The present KCR is a soulless mechanical puppet,” she said.
She also claimed that the movement “lost its direction” under his leadership and social justice was marginalized. “While the real Telangana could not reach him, anti-Telangana forces gained influence. Corruption reached its peak and scams became the order of the day,” she claimed.
“Earlier, KCR was ‘Mana Manishi’ (our man), but now he has turned into ‘Mara Manishi’ (robot), under the control of wolves and jackals around him. He has no sympathy for the suffering masses. He never came out to call out the people who were in distress,” Kavitha added.
Political observers view Kavitha’s decision to name her party TRS as a strategic move to occupy the old space of the original Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the party founded by her father K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), which was renamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in October 2022.
The BRS adopted its new identity as part of KCR’s national ambitions, but following its defeat in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections and failure to win any seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, voices within the party have called for a return to the original TRS name.
“Yes. We have made a strategic mistake by naming TRS as BRS. We will consider returning to its original name TRS. The final decision will be taken by KCR soon,” KT Rama Rao, working president of BRS and Kavitha’s brother, told reporters last week.
“Now, by officially naming her party as ‘TRS’, Kavitha has effectively occupied the old space of the original TRS party and reclaimed the Telangana identity that was earlier associated with the BRS,” political analyst Srinivasa Rao Manchala said.
Kavitha also unveiled the party’s flag which features yellow, blue and green colours, unlike the pink associated with the BRS. The flag bears a blue map of Telangana state with the abbreviation “TRS” written on it.
In her speech, Kavitha highlighted her two-decade-long association with the Telangana movement through Telangana Jagruthi, particularly the mobilization of women through Bathukamma cultural programmes. These initiatives helped build popular awareness and restore the cultural identity of Telangana through folk traditions, she said.
She admitted that although Telangana was achieved through collective struggle, the aspirations behind the movement were yet to be fulfilled.
Meanwhile, turning her guns on the BJP, Kavitha criticized the saffron party and accused it of neglecting Telangana despite having eight MPs from the state and undermining federal principles. Meanwhile, she targeted the Congress government led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, calling it “brutal”.
Reacting to the development, BJP state spokesperson and media in-charge NV Subhash was quoted by news agency PTI as saying, “This development only reinforces what the party has long maintained – that internal developments within former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s family are being presented as calculated public spectacles rather than genuine policy shifts.”
He added: “After nearly a decade in power since 2014, and in the wake of an electoral setback in 2023, what we are witnessing now is a fallout within the same family. The sudden resurrection of a party with the same name raises serious questions about intent and credibility.”
Setting out her party’s agenda, Kavitha promised free education from primary school to university level and universal free healthcare. She said the farmers will get dignity and institutional support, while the unemployed youth will be made self-reliant through financial assistance ranging from $2 lakh for $20 crores for entrepreneurship.
It also promised to fill four thousand vacant government positions “at once” and ensure social justice for all segments of society.
Kavitha announced that her party will contest the upcoming Mandal Parishad and Zilla Parishad elections, as well as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.
Kavitha was suspended from the BRS membership in September 2025 after she accused her cousins and party leaders T Harish Rao and J Santosh Kumar of “tarnishing” the image of her father and BRS chief Chandrasekhar Rao over the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project built during the BRS regime.
