The founder

The KCR Journey

From a resignation in 2001 to a state in 2014 — and the argument that carried it.

1954
Born at Chintamadaka
Born on 17 February 1954 at Chintamadaka in what is now Telangana, to Raghava Rao and Venkatamma. He took an MA in Telugu literature from Osmania University, Hyderabad.
1983
The first contest
He contested Siddipet as an independent and lost by 877 votes. Later the same year he joined the Telugu Desam Party.
1985–1999
Four straight terms from Siddipet
He won four consecutive Assembly elections from Siddipet. He served as Minister for Drought and Relief in 1987–88, and as Transport Minister from 1996.
2000–2001
Deputy Speaker
He served as Deputy Speaker of the undivided Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
27 April 2001
He resigns, and starts a party
He resigned the Deputy Speakership and left the TDP, saying the Telangana region was being discriminated against and that a separate state was the only answer. The same day, at Jala Drushyam in Hyderabad, he founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
2004
Union Cabinet Minister
He won both the Siddipet Assembly seat and the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, and took office as Union Cabinet Minister for Labour and Employment.
2006
Walking out
The party withdrew from the UPA coalition, saying it was not inclined to support a separate Telangana. He resigned his Lok Sabha seat.
2009
The hunger strike
He won the Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat. In November he began a hunger strike demanding that the Telangana Bill be introduced in Parliament. Eleven days later the Union Government initiated the process of granting statehood.
2 June 2014
First Chief Minister of Telangana
Telangana became India's 29th state. The party won 63 of 119 Assembly seats and 11 of 17 Lok Sabha seats. Elected MLA from Gajwel and MP from Medak, he was sworn in as the state's first Chief Minister.
2014–2015
Governing begins
On 19 August 2014 the state ran the Samagra Kutumba Survey in a single day, collecting 94 parameters across 1.04 crore households to base its welfare programmes on. Bathukamma was declared a state festival. Aarogya Lakshmi launched on 1 January 2015.
2018
A second term
He dissolved the Assembly nine months early and went to the polls. In December the party returned with a large majority and he took office for a second term.
2018–2021
The welfare programme
Rythu Bandhu, Aasara pensions, Kalyana Lakshmi–Shaadi Mubarak and the two-bedroom housing scheme were rolled out. Dalit Bandhu launched on 16 August 2021.
5 October 2022
Telangana Rashtra Samithi becomes Bharat Rashtra Samithi
On Vijayadashami, at the party's Executive Council meeting, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi was renamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi — the state agenda becoming a national one.
2023
To the opposition benches
At the December election the party won 39 seats and government passed to the Congress. He held Gajwel by 45,553 votes, resigned as Chief Minister on 3 December, and took office as Leader of the Opposition on 16 December.