Why was TRS given to us if it was already alloted? Kavitha asks

Hyderabad: The Delhi High Court has asked the Kalvakuntla Kavitha led Telangana Rakshana Sena to reply to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) notices over objections to its name, or the TRS abbreviation.

“The advocate arguing on behalf of the party in the Delhi High Court stated that a reply will be given within a week to the notices issued by the EC in connection with the registration of the Telangana Rakshana Sena party,” said Kavitha’s party in a statement on Wednesday, July 9.

In a media statement, the advocate from Kavitha’s party stated that as per the suggestion of the Election Commission, they had given advertisements in newspapers inviting objections on the name of the Telangana Rakshana Sena party. The party added that it had replied to the objections received from only two parties which were sent to them by the EC.

“He explained that as objections were received on a large scale regarding the name of the party, they were issued a notice to suggest three alternative names. He stated that the party has the right to know what the objections raised against their party name are and by whom. Meaning that all those objections should be sent to them,” the statement added.

The TRS advocate stated that the party would reply to the Election Commission within a week and requested to issue orders directing the EC to conduct a hearing and give them an opportunity to present their arguments before taking a decision on the party name.

“Taking these arguments into consideration, the judge ordered that after the Telangana Rakshana Sena party replies to the EC notices, an opportunity must be given to hear their arguments,” the statement further said.

The TRS name battle

Kavitha’s party also said that it had applied for the registration under the name of ‘Telangana Praja Jagruthi’ and it was the Central Election Commission itself that allocated the third name present in their application ‘Telangana Rakshana Sena’.

It may be recalled that the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana was originally called Telangana Rashtra Samithi, until it was renamed to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) by her father K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) who heads it. Kavitha had a falling out with the BRS and eventually quit, and formed her own party.

Hence the battle for the name.

According to Kavitha’s party, only with the permission given by the EC it built party flag platforms in all 119 assembly constituencies in Telangana and are conducting activities. It stated that it will reply to the EC notices within a week and after that, their party chief Kavitha will personally appear before the EC and give an explanation regarding the party name.

The Telangana Rakshana Sena also pointed out that the EC has already given recognition to two political parties in Telangana with the abbreviation TRS. One party was registered in 2023, and another party was registered in 2024. “This raises multiple questions. How was the party that was registered in 2024 given approval if a party with the same abbreviation existed already. If that was as per prescribed norms, why doesn’t the same apply to Telangana Rakshana Sena in 2026?” questioned Kavitha’s outfit.