On March 11, as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was set to finish its day’s questioning of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kavitha Kalvakuntla in the Delhi liquor scam, her brother and Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao and her cousin, Finance Minister Harish Rao, were on their way to New Delhi. Hours later, when Kavitha returned from the interrogation, KTR and Harish Rao welcomed her back home and later accompanied her back to Hyderabad. Several other cabinet ministers and party leaders had come to the national capital in large numbers to extend their solidarity. Throughout the episode, the family and the party ensured that their message was clear – they were steadfastly behind Kavitha.
On March 16, as Kavitha is set to make her second appearance before the ED in Delhi and most likely to be arrested, KTR will once again be there by his sister’s side. Those close to the family say they see the ED and CBI’s move to implicate Kavitha in the scam as nothing short of political harassment, and have decided to double down on their support for her.
As both the siblings, their father Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), and the BRS have been known to strongly voice their protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Kalvakuntla family is worried about how Kavitha would be treated by the investigation agency in the case of an arrest. Speaking to TNM, a source close to the family revealed that the family believes that the BJP’s strategy is to ensure Kavitha’s arrest and keep her in jail till Telangana goes to polls in December. “Only then can Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah come to Telangana and make campaign speeches that even the CM’s daughter is in jail. They will somehow ensure she does not get bail,” says the source.
Which is the reason why a priority for the Kalvakuntla family is preparing the ground to apply for bail. “If any of the accused in the case get bail, then it will have a domino effect, others too will get bail. So it is important that all bail applications in the case are strong, especially Kavitha’s,” the source says.
While family members and those close to them are strategising about how to deal with the fallout of the arrest, it is also preparing mentally. “There will be harassment, no doubt. They think Kavitha is strong enough to handle it, but then a family will worry, right?” asks the source.
According to those TNM spoke to, when the probe started and Kavitha was linked to the scam, KCR did not think that it would result in an arrest. However, lately, he too has been preparing for the same. While the CM had called for a party meeting to discuss strategy and was dealing with it at his own pace, one event changed all that – a comment made by the Telangana BJP chief. On the day that Kavitha was questioned, BJP’s Bandi Sanjay was asked whether she would be arrested. He replied, “If not arrested, should she be kissed?”
“The CM was livid with anger. That comment crossed all limits of decency. Immediately, it was decided that the party would protest in every district,” reveals a source.
The BRS believes that if Kavitha really had a role in the alleged Delhi liquor scam she would have been named as an accused by the investigating agency. The party also believes that Kavitha’s harassment is BJP’s retaliation for the BRS sting operation in the MLA poaching case. In October 2022, the BRS and the Telangana police had fixed multiple cameras in a guest house and recorded a conversation that three alleged emissaries of the BJP had with four BRS MLAs. The emissaries, who said they represented Amit Shah and BJP National General Secretary BL Santhosh, offered large amounts of money to the MLAs to jump ship. The BJP has refuted any links with the three men, even as an investigation goes on.
The BRS strategy to counter the BJP is primarily two-pronged. They will sharpen their attack against the Union government and its policies. The second strategy is to highlight corruption by the BJP government and its proximity to billionaire business honchos like Gautam Adani. “We will point out how Adani is given free rein, and how there is bigger corruption by the BJP. They are looting the country of thousands of crores and carrying on without any fear. Their strategy is to jail everyone in the opposition in scams that don’t even exist, this has to be highlighted to the people,” a party source says.
In the case of an arrest, the BRS leadership has already asked party workers and cadres to tell the people that it is an act of vengeance.
KTR, who is also the working president of the party, has already had multiple meetings with top BRS leaders on the party’s plan of action in the case of Kavitha’s arrest. The BRS believes that the case will not have a far-reaching effect electorally as the election is still several months away.
“Public memory is short lived. Though there is a lot of discussion happening on the ground, it will not impact us. Corruption is never a core issue during elections. Moreover, there is no case of corruption here and Kavitha is not the first BRS leader to be targeted. We will show the public that there is a pattern with this,” claims a highly-placed party source.