The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is gearing up to set up its Kisan (farmer) cell in six states, including Andhra Pradesh, after Christmas in order to reach out to the farmers of the country.

As the party outlined its upcoming activities it also slammed the BJP for calling the BRS a “flop show” pointing out that border villages of BJP-ruled Karnataka and Maharashtra want merger with Telangana due to the success of their welfare programmes and policies.

BRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has already announced that the slogan for his party would be “Ab ki bar Kisan sarkar ” and accordingly formed the Kisan Cell of the party just after inaugurating the new party office in New Delhi.

The BRS Kisan cell will for now start work in six states including Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh apart from Telangana. Apparently, the schemes implemented by the Telangana government for the welfare of farmers and irrigation projects have attracted the attention of farmers of other states as well.

The party has claimed that there has been a lot of interest generated in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for both the kisan cell and the BRS among the people and political leaders.

It may be pointed out that the ruling YSRCP in AP under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy may not be amused by the turn of events. “The stage is set for BRS to start its activities in many districts of AP. Nearly 70-80 prominent people from various districts of AP, particularly North Andhra have held discussions with Rao and are getting ready to start work at the ground level” read the statement issued by the party.

Groundwork for the BRS in various states including Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha will also gather momentum after Christmas. Rao held discussions with poets, lyricists, intellectuals to spread the word about BRS policies through songs and literature in regional languages such as Marathi, Oriya and Kannada. BRS will debut in North Karnataka, border areas where there is significant Telugu population after tying up with Janata Dal (S).

Meanwhile, BRS working president KT Rama Rao slammed BJP leader K Laxman for calling the BRS a flop show. “Four Gujaratis can rule the entire nation but why should a Telangana bidda (son) not venture into national politics?” asked KT Rama Rao.

He also challenged BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar who had accused the BRS leader of taking drugs that he was ready for any kind of tests but once the results were out the BJP MP will have to hit himself with his own footwear after being proved wrong.