Hyderabad: Within 24 hours of being suspended from her father’s party, Kalvakuntla Kavitha Wednesday resigned from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and her MLC post in Telangana.
Kavitha, a former MP from Nizamabad, said she has not yet decided what to do next, but cautioned her father K Chandrasekhar Rao and brother, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, to be wary of people around them if they wanted to avoid a similar fate.
“There is a conspiracy underway to split my family and to take over the party. My expulsion is part of that plot,” said Kavitha while continuing her tirade against her cousins—former irrigation and finance minister Harish Rao and former Rajya Sabha member Joginapally Santhosh—in a press conference held at her NGO Telangana Jagruti’s office here.
Kavitha was suspended from the BRS Tuesday for what the party called anti-party activities and defiant behaviour.
On Wednesday, Kavitha alleged a “match-fixing” between her cousin Harish Rao and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, further alleging that the plot against her began on a flight Harish and Revanth took between New Delhi and Hyderabad some time back.
“Can the two deny that they didn’t travel together? Harish has surrendered to Revanth long back,” Kavitha said, while warning her brother “Ram-anna” and imploring him to wise up and safeguard KCR and the party.
Revanth hit back at Kavitha’s allegations of him backing Harish, and claimed that the fight in the KCR family originated from differences over the sharing of ill-gotten money accumulated when the BRS was in power. In 2015, Revanth, then a TDP MLA, too had been arrested by the Telangana ACB in connection with the alleged cash-for-vote scam during the MLC polls that year.
Speaking at a public meeting after inaugurating an industrial unit near Mahbubnagar on Wednesday, the CM said “sins committed like foisting false cases and jailing opponents have come to haunt the KCR family”.
“I am accused of being behind Harish, Santhosh by some and some say I am supporting Kavitha. You lot have been rejected by Telangana society. Why would any sensible person be involved with you? Please do not drag us into your family or caste panchayati (matters),” said Revanth.
He added: “They themselves are ready to pour acid on or stab each other with knives. We have no interest whatsoever in their affairs. The BRS is like a denominated Rs 1,000 note, it will disappear soon.”
KTR’s silence
However, even as Kavitha invoked his name several times and pleaded his intervention to protect the family and the party, KTR maintained a stoic silence.
“I am hurt that my brother KTR did not respond, nor even called on phone to enquire when I held a press meet at Telangana Bhavan (party headquarters) and spoke about the conspiracies against me,” Kavitha said Wednesday. “If this is in my case, I wonder what will be the fate of an ordinary women BRS activist coming to you and seeking justice.”
Kavitha’s suspension came after her sensational accusations that Harish and Santhosh were involved in the Kaleshwaram project ‘scam’ and amassed wealth while dragging KCR’s name into it.
The BJP and Congress latched on to Kavitha’s comments as a validation of the allegations of large-scale graft during BRS rule, especially in the Kaleshwaram project.
“I am hanged without a trial,” Kavitha said Wednesday, claiming that “no explanation or response was sought” from her.
Kavitha listed her contributions for the party like fighting for OBC reservations, financial aid to women, agitating against AP’s proposed Banakacherla project etc, in response to her suspension letter.
“I have dedicated 20 years of my life for BRS, spent five and half months in Tihar jail. Telangana Jagruti operated as the aatama of BRS. I’ll go into public agitations again; no problem. But I request the BRS leaders, cadres to see the true faces of some people.”
Kavitha accused Harish of scheming to harm the party and its leader on several occasions, “while posing in public as BRS’s trouble shooter”. She blamed him for several leaders like Eatala Rajender, Vijayashanti M, and Raghunandan Rao leaving the party.
Though many BRS leaders have commented on Kavitha’s suspension and allegations, Harish Rao and Santhosh are yet to make any public remarks on the same.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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