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Maintaining a dignified composure, former MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha resigned from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party’s primary membership and also from the MLC post on Wednesday, September 3, citing integrity. A day earlier, she was suspended from the party on grounds of “anti-party” activities.
Addressing the media from her office in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, a teary-eyed Kavitha appealed to her father and founder of the BRS, Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), and brother Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao (KTR) to reconsider their decision. She also launched a blistering attack against her two cousins, former Minister T Harish Rao and former Rajya Sabha MP Joginapally Santosh Kumar.
Kavitha categorically blamed Harish Rao for allegedly sowing divisions in their family in a larger ploy to usurp power. In an emotional appeal to KCR and KTR, she said, “You have kept them (Rao and Santosh) at your side, and I, who am speaking the truth, am being kicked out of the party.”
While Kavitha had previously refrained from taking the names of the people allegedly conspiring against her, she openly attacked Rao and Santosh for indulging in alleged corruption in the Kaleshwaram project, which resulted in the Telangana government handing over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In her address to the media, Kavitha trained her guns on Harish Rao and said that Santosh was merely a manipulator. Santosh, who is the son of KCR’s wife’s sister, is widely known as the BRS chief’s “right-hand man.” He was also the managing director of Namasthe Telangana, the mouthpiece of the BRS party.
Who is T Harish Rao?
Harish Rao is KCR’s nephew and trusted lieutenant. A senior leader who has been a member of the party since its inception in 2001, he is now accused of being a “tiger in sheep’s hide.”
Rao has been the legislator of the Siddipet Assembly constituency, the bastion of the BRS, since it was vacated by KCR in 2004. Rao exhibited his firm loyalty to the Kalvakuntla patriarch by resigning multiple times from his seat during the protests for a separate Telangana state.
KCR rewarded his loyalty by offering him a cabinet post after the statehood was realised in 2014. Rao was made the Irrigation Minister of Telangana for consecutive terms. He always managed to grab eyeballs by winning his constituency with a huge majority, asserting his popularity among the people.
His growth and popularity within the party gave rise to speculation that he may take control of the BRS. Before this could gain further traction, KCR cleverly appointed his son KTR as the party’s working president in 2018, ensuring that the party’s reins remained within his family.
Meanwhile, Kavitha carved a name for herself through Telangana Jagruthi — a cultural organisation that promoted Telangana culture and Bathukamma festivities to bolster the statehood movement. But it was largely sidelined and Kavitha was kept at a distance from the party. She was given the MP seat twice — in 2014 and 2019. But she lost the 2019 election to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Arvind Dharmapuri. She was compensated for the loss with an MLC seat, which she resigned from on Wednesday following her suspension from the party. Kavitha blames Rao for the loss.
Kavitha’s suspension
Kavitha was arrested in March 2024 by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged Delhi liquor scam. Following her release in August the same year, Kavitha carried out a series of campaigns independently in defiance of the party. This included her support for women’s representation in the Parliament and support for the Backward Classes reservation, among others.
Kavitha alleges that a conspiracy was hatched against her for these activities. The conspiracy not only isolated her from the party but from the family too, she said.
Allegations against Harish Rao
Kavitha minced no words in alleging that Rao engineered a wedge between their family members so that he can take over the party and grab power. “The first step towards this is to kick me out of the party,” she said.
Targeting the coterie around her father, she said, “Please observe what is happening around you. Today, they have sent me out. The same might happen to you and Ramanna (KTR) too.”
Kavitha claimed that the slander campaign against her began after Rao and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy went to Delhi on the same flight.
She substantiated the claim of collusion between Rao and Revanth by pointing out that the irregularity allegations against her cousin are overlooked by the Congress government, whereas her brother KTR has been harassed in the name of an inquiry.
“Ayodhya Reddy (CPRO to the CM) tweeted that there was a scam committed by Harish Rao in the supplying of milk to residential schools. But within two days, the allegation disappeared. This is because he had surrendered.”
She said that the CBI inquiry against her father in the Kaleshwaram reservoir case was a result of the alleged irregularities committed by Rao when he was the Irrigation Minister. “Today, the CBI inquiry against KCR is only because of the corruption by Harish Rao and Santosh.” Kavitha said that the BRS party would survive only if the two were alienated from the party.
She also said that Rao joined the then Telangana Rashtra Samithi (later renamed as BRS) only 9-10 months after its formation, not at its inception, as widely perceived. She also claimed that he allegedly disputed the decision to resign from the TDP government for the statehood cause.
Dismissing his credentials of being the party’s “troubleshooter”, Kavitha termed him a “bubbleshooter.” She said that Rao solved the troubles which he himself created.
In his quest for power, Rao also conspired to defeat KTR in the 2009 elections, she alleged. Kavitha said that she was defeated in the same manner by wooing the MLAs in the 2019 Parliamentary elections.
While KCR outsmarted Rao and eliminated the threat of succession by appointing his son as the party’s working president, the rumours about Rao shifting loyalties continue in political circles.
Responding to this in May this year, Rao said that he would welcome the elevation of KTR as the party president. “I will welcome and cooperate if the party leadership is handed over to KTR. I will follow the directions given by party president K Chandrasekhar Rao without any deviation. I will never cross the party line,” he had said.
Kavitha also clarified that she won’t be joining another party. “I am not joining any party. There is no need for it. My future course of action will be announced after consulting Telangana Jagruthi functionaries, Telangana intellectuals, the BC community, and those working for Samajika Telangana.”