A day after being suspended from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi for her alleged anti-party activities, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of party president and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, on Wednesday resigned from the primary membership of the party and also her seat in the state legislative council.
Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad, Kavitha said she was sending a letter to KCR stating that she was quitting the BRS and a separate letter to the state legislative council chairman resigning from her MLC seat.
Kavitha accused her cousins – former minister T Harish Rao and former Rajya Sabha member Joginapalli Santosh Rao of conspiring against her and bringing pressure on her father KCR to sack her from the party.
“My suspension from the BRS is part of a larger conspiracy hatched by Harish Rao to create a rift within my family and ultimately take control of the party reins. Today, I was thrown out of the party; next, it could be my brother K T Rama Rao (BRS working president) and finally, my father KCR,” she alleged.
She wondered what anti-party activities she had resorted to that made the party take such a harsh decision against her. “Ever since I came out of Tihar jail where I was lodged for five and a half months last year, I have been fighting for various causes, including 42% reservations for OBCs in education, employment and local bodies. I have taken up the cause of achieving social justice. How can it be anti-party activity? Is the BRS against social justice?” she asked.
{{/usCountry}}She wondered what anti-party activities she had resorted to that made the party take such a harsh decision against her. “Ever since I came out of Tihar jail where I was lodged for five and a half months last year, I have been fighting for various causes, including 42% reservations for OBCs in education, employment and local bodies. I have taken up the cause of achieving social justice. How can it be anti-party activity? Is the BRS against social justice?” she asked.
{{/usCountry}}Kavitha alleged that Harish Rao had secretly colluded with Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy and hatched a conspiracy to destabilise KCR’s family. “The plan was hatched a few months ago when Harish Rao and Revanth Reddy travelled together to Delhi. It was only after this journey, there has been a systematic campaign against me on social media and other media outlets,” she said.
She expressed regrets that her brother KTR had not bothered to condemn the vilifying campaign against her on social media. “Forget that I am your sister and we have a family bonding. But I am an MLC and at least as the party working president, you should react when there was a malicious campaign against me,” she said.
Kavitha also alleged that Santosh had misused his influence in the chief minister’s office when KCR was the chief minister and made big money through the sand mafia. “His close aide – Pochampally Srinivas Reddy, along with a popular contractor, are constructing a huge villa project near Hyderabad with ₹700 crore. Where did he get this money from?” she asked.
She further blamed Harish Rao and Santosh Kumar for corruption that, according to her, gave the Congress government “an excuse to announce a CBI probe against the Kaleshwaram irrigation project.” She alleged, “The probe was due to corruption of cousins Harish Rao and Santosh Kumar.”
The 46-year-old leader, who is heading Telangana Jagruthi, a cultural outfit, declared that she would not join any other political party. “I shall disclose my future plans after discussing with the leaders of Telangana Jagruthi and other well-wishers,” she said.
Revanth rubbishes Kavitha allegations
Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy rubbished the allegations made by Kavitha that he had conspired with Harish Rao to destabilise KCR’s family. “Don’t drag me into your dirty family politics. You don’t need someone to damage your family. You are stabbing each other in the back and killing your party,” he said, at an event in Mahabubnagar.
Revanth Reddy said the disputes within the family of KCR were due to disagreement over distribution of ill-gotten money. He brushed aside the allegations that he was behind some leaders in the ongoing political drama in the BRS. “Why should I rally behind such worthless people whom people have rejected? I am a leader and am always ahead of people, not behind somebody,” he said.
Describing the BRS as an outdated currency, the chief minister said the BRS would crumble under its own weight. “It will disappear into oblivion very soon,” he said.
While Harish Rao or Santosh Rao did not respond to Kavitha’s comments, senior BRS leader and former minister Ch Malla Reddy defended suspension of Kavitha from the party saying it was a right decision.
“For KCR, the party is more important than his daughter or son. Family disputes are natural, but for KCR, the people of Telangana are his priority,” he said.
He refuted Kavitha’s comments indicating a possible corruption in Kaleshwaram irrigation project. “False propaganda is being spread on the Kaleshwaram issue. Neither the CBI nor anyone else can do anything in this matter. Using the CBI’s name to trouble KCR is not correct,” Malla Reddy said.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP M Raghunandan Rao said he would agree with Kavitha’s allegation that Harish Rao had colluded with Revanth Reddy. “It was true that they travelled together in the same flight, but they discussed about defeating the BJP in the elections,” he said.
The BJP leader said it was evident from Kavitha’s comments that the BRS leaders had indulged in massive corruption. “In the next episode, it would be good if she exposes the corruption of senior BRS leaders,” he said.