The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has embarked on an ambitious initiative to completely digitize its party membership enrollment process. Party chief K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) recently decided that the membership drive should move entirely to a digital platform, coinciding with the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. The move aims to modernize the party’s organizational structure and create a comprehensive digital database of its cadre across Telangana.
Party Working President K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) and senior leader T. Harish Rao held discussions on Wednesday with IT companies, technology experts, and party leaders regarding the development of a dedicated mobile application for membership registration. The BRS is preparing to launch a specialized app through which people can directly enroll as party members. Once operational, the app is expected to simplify the collection and management of cadre data, allowing instant access to complete membership details by entering a phone number or a worker’s name.
To ensure transparency in fee collection, the party plans to integrate UPI-based payment systems such as PhonePe and Google Pay. This digital payment integration will allow membership fees to be transferred directly into the party’s account, reducing dependence on cash transactions and minimizing irregularities. Based on feedback from party workers, the BRS has fixed the membership fee at Rs. 10 for general membership and Rs. 50 for active membership.
The party is building an extensive grassroots network to make the digital membership drive successful. According to Election Commission data, Telangana has 35,655 polling booths. The BRS has selected two workers from each booth, totaling more than 71,000 workers, to oversee the enrollment process. This translates to roughly 500 to 600 workers in every constituency, creating a robust ground-level infrastructure for the campaign.
The party leadership has planned district-wise training sessions for these workers. Experts from the party headquarters will conduct one-day workshops at district offices under the supervision of Mandal Coordinators. Comprehensive training on the membership app will be provided from morning to evening, with special sessions dedicated to resolving doubts raised by Booth Level Agents (BLAs). The party has also arranged food and accommodation facilities for attendees, with district in-charges coordinating daily with Mandal Coordinators to closely monitor the progress of the membership campaign.
Earlier this week, KCR met party General Secretaries at his residence in Erravelli to review and guide the digital membership initiative. Continuing those discussions, KTR and Harish Rao later met representatives of leading IT firms and technical experts in Hyderabad to discuss the app’s design and functionality. The leaders stressed the need for a robust and accurate database covering every party worker from the village level to the state leadership, instructing developers to create a seamless system with minimal scope for technical errors.
The party also sees the digital membership campaign as an opportunity to connect with younger voters, particularly Gen Z. BRS leaders believe that introducing young people to the party’s history, ideology, and current political vision can help build long-term political engagement and strengthen the party’s future support base. Alongside the membership drive, efforts are also underway to strengthen the party’s youth, student, women’s, and affiliated wings.
Political observers are closely watching the BRS initiative, as the party aims to become the first political party in Telangana, and possibly one of the few in India, to implement a completely digital membership enrollment system. The party is reportedly studying how other political parties across the country have handled digital membership programs, examining both their successes and shortcomings. While parties like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have previously used partial online systems, the BRS is aiming for full-scale digitization. Once the enrollment process is completed, KCR is expected to hold a review meeting with constituency in-charges to assess the progress of the drive.
