BRS to TRS Name Change Will Be a Smooth Affair Under EC Norms

Hyderabad: The re-christening of the Bharata Rashtra Samithi as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi will be a hassle-free affair, considering the precedents of restoring the previous name of a political party and also the unwritten rule in the Election Commission of India that the previous name of an outfit should not be given to any other applicant for at least six years.

TRS only changed its name to BRS in October 2022 and did not register BRS as a new party. “The same process will be followed to bring back the TRS name,” said B. Vinod Kumar, senior leader of the party and former MP. “There is no rule expressly reserving the old name but ECI follows the practice of reserving the name for a considerable period of time,” he added

According to sources, the BRS leadership also breathed a sigh of relief after learning that fiery rebel leader K. Kavitha had chosen to go with a name that included the brand name ‘Jagruthi’ for her proposed party instead of resorting to the TRS tag. If the EC rejects his request, this could trigger a legal battle.

Earlier, former prime minister Indira Gandhi engineered a split in the Congress in 1978 and formed her own party, Congress (I), short form of Congress (Indira). The party contested elections as the Congress(I) until he was assassinated, but all the leaders of the original Congress joined him. During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, the party took the name of the by then defunct Indian National Congress and merged the Congress (I) with it.

Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, senior Congress leader GK Moopanar parted ways with the INC in 1996 and formed his own unit, the Tamil Maanila Congress. His son GK Vasan joined the Congress and merged the Tamil Manila Congress with the parent party in 2001, a year after his father’s death. However, this name was not given to others. Vasan left the Congress and revived the Tamil Manila Congress in 2014.