Kavitha accuses former BRS legislators of graft
Kavitha accuses BRS leaders of corruption and land grabbing, vows to investigate if elected CM, and threatens legal action over defamatory claims.
Telangana Jagruthi president Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Friday accused Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders, including former ministers and MLAs, of indulging in large-scale corruption, land grabbing, and misuse of power during the previous regime headed by her father K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Speaking to reporters at her office in Hyderabad, Kavitha alleged that massive corruption, illegal land dealings, and irregularities had taken place throughout the nine-and-a-half years tenure of the previous BRS government.
“God willing, I shall become chief minister of Telangana one day, and, if that happens, I would order a comprehensive inquiry into all acts of wrongdoing committed during the BRS regime,” the Telangana Jagruthi president, who quit the BRS in September, said.
Asserting that she had revealed only a fraction of the alleged scandals, she said: “I have only tossed the coin. The test match is yet to begin.” Kavitha claimed that she had been receiving complaints almost every day regarding illegal activities of the BRS MLAs and former ministers.
Kavitha alleged during the agitation for separate Telangana state, several BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) leaders had extorted money from big business houses in the name of the movement. “I stayed silent all these years, but I will not remain quiet anymore,” she said.
Kavitha refuted allegations of personal gain during the BRS rule, stating that she had never benefited financially from the government. “During the Telangana movement, I pledged my jewellery to run Bathukamma programmes. After KCR came to power, neither I nor my husband had ever lobbied for any favour. I did not earn a single rupee through illegal means,” she stated, adding that attempts to shift the blame for BRS corruption onto her would not be tolerated.
She claimed that when she was serving as Nizamabad MP and staying in Delhi, several BRS leaders “looted the state like bandicoots under KCR’s shadow.”
She criticised the BRS leaders for continuing to attack her even after suspending her from the party. “I will not spare the mastermind behind you,” she added.
Kavitha announced that she was sending legal notices to Kukatpally BRS MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao, BJP leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, and a television channel affiliated to the BRS for making “baseless and defamatory” allegations against her and her husband regarding encroachment of land.
She demanded that the individuals and media organisations that levelled allegations tender unconditional apologies within a week. “If they fail to apologise, I will proceed legally,” she warned, stating that neither she nor her family would tolerate the campaign of disinformation being carried out against them.
The Telangana Jagruthi president further questioned why the BJP leaders were coming to the defence of BRS leaders when her criticism was directed at the BRS and Congress. “When I criticise BRS and Congress leaders, why does it trouble BJP leaders?” she asked.
She also alleged that a “mastermind” operating behind MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao would soon be exposed and that she planned to file complaints with vigilance authorities and the CBI against this individual.
Kavitha also lashed out at her brother and BRS working president K T Rama Rao for raising a hue and cry over the latest Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation (HILT) policy brought in by the Congress government.
“This is nothing but hypocrisy. It was KTR who had signed the controversial land-use change government orders during the BRS regime. The BRS opened the window for land misappropriation, while the Congress government had now opened the main doors for exploitation,” she alleged.
Kavitha said the BRS MLA from Kukatpally, along with another MLC Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, who she alleged was KTR’s proxy, had built large villas and apartment complexes after converting industrial land into residential plots during the BRS tenure.
Kavitha levelled additional allegations of large-scale irregularities in the real-estate venture associated with Krishna Rao and his son. She said that a 10-acre water body had been illegally reduced to 6 acres, with four acres encroached upon. “Is that your ancestral property?” she asked, criticising that a protective wall was built around a community lake meant for public use.
She alleged that the BRS leaders had created a “KGF-style real-estate empire” by encroaching upon public land and manipulating land-use permissions.
The BRS leaders are yet to respond to Kavitha’s allegations.
