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Kavitha targets party leadership, alleges conspiracy to merge BRS with BJP
In a letter to her father, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Kavitha said he should have spoken aggressively against the BJP on the occasion of BRS’s silver jubilee in April
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lawmaker Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Thursday targeted her party leadership, particularly her brother K T Rama Rao, alleging a conspiracy to merge Telangana’s Opposition party with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
She told reporters that efforts were underway for the merger. “Even while I was in jail, proposals were made to merge with the BJP. I told my father [former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao] not to make hasty decisions and merge the BRS with the BJP. I said I was prepared to be in jail not just for six months but even for years, if necessary,” she said, referring to her arrest in March 2024 in connection with the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy of 2021-22.
The Supreme Court granted her bail in August 2024, reprimanding federal agencies Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate, for basing the case on inferences.
In a May 2 letter to her father, who is popularly known as KCR, Kavitha said he should have spoken aggressively against the BJP at a public meeting on the occasion of BRS’s Silver Jubilee on April 27. She wrote that KCR spoke only for two minutes on the BJP, leading to “strong speculation” among the party cadre that the BRS might ally with the BJP. “...I, too, felt that you should have spoken aggressively against the BJP. Maybe, because I had suffered at the hands of the BJP, I thought you should have attacked the BJP strongly,” she wrote in the letter, a copy of which HT has seen.
Kavitha said the BRS cadre sees the BJP as a possible alternative to the ruling Congress. “By not contesting in the recent MLC [legislative council] elections [in April], the BRS is perceived to have helped the BJP—a message that Congress used to its advantage,” she said.
Kavitha acknowledged writing the letter and expressed surprise at why it was leaked. “I already expressed anguish over the deliberate leakage of my confidential letter to my father and said there was a conspiracy going on in the party against me,” she said.
Kavitha said she has written letters to KCR for 25 years and asked why her recent letter was leaked. She added that KCR used to tear her letters immediately upon receiving them.
Kavitha questioned what was wrong if she had written a letter to her father. “Why should that hurt you? Why are stories being planted against me on social media, making inappropriate comments about me? How can they allow such stories to be carried about their family member? I deserve respect both as a woman and a political figure,” she said.
Kavitha advised her critics within the BRS to focus on Telangana’s welfare rather than targeting her. She said those working under KCR’s leadership were allegedly turning against her.
Kavitha challenged BRS working president KT Rama Rao. “If you have the courage, show your aggression towards chief minister A Revanth Reddy and the BJP, who issued notices to KCR [for questioning over alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project], instead of targeting me.”
She warned the BRS leaders that she was not someone to be taken lightly. “If I begin to speak openly, you would not be able to handle it.” She criticised the party’s passive stance on the notices to KCR over the Kaleshwaram project. “Do you think posting messages on Twitter is enough without actual grassroots activism?”
She questioned her labelling as a covert Congress agent. “Is it right to label me a covert for Revanth Reddy?” She accused the BRS leaders of spreading false propaganda against her, using paid artists, and denied claims that she tried to join Congress as a blatant lie. “The Congress is a sinking ship. Why should I join that party?”
She criticised the BRS’s internal politics, saying those behind the leak of her letter are now playing victim. She dismissed rumours of seeking political positions as false stories planted in the media. “I have always been rebellious. KCR knows that.”
Kavitha said she does not indulge in backstabbing politics, speaks directly, does not play political games, and is not afraid to call things as they are. She said she offered to resign from the party and her post when she was arrested, but KCR asked her not to. “I am still in this position only because KCR asked me to stay,” she said. She accused BRS assembly members of her defeat in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency.
She reaffirmed her loyalty to BRS and KCR. “Apart from KCR, I will not work under anyone else’s leadership.” Kavitha added that she respects the position of the BRS working president K T Rama Rao.
