"Attempts To Merge BRS With BJP": K Kavitha's Veiled Attack On Brother KTR

Days after she said that her father and Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, is a god, who is surrounded by devils, K Kavitha has upped the ante and virtually accused her brother KT Rama Rao of conspiring against her, attempting to sideline her and trying to merge the party with the BJP.

Ms Kavitha had complained on Saturday that a private letter to her father and former Telangana chief minister, in which she had said that a speech by him during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi's (BRS) silver jubilee celebration in Warangal last month was not critical enough of the BJP and had sparked speculation that the parties would have an alliance in the future, had deliberately been leaked by some within the party. 

"Two weeks ago, I had written a letter to KCR ji. I had expressed my opinions to him earlier through letters. I had recently said that conspiracies are being hatched. The letter written by me internally became public. All of us in the party and the people of Telangana have to think about what is happening," she had said.

"KCR ji is a god. But there are some devils around him. A lot of damage is being done because of them. I am KCR's daughter. If the letter written by me internally became public, there should be a debate about the fate of others in the party," the BRS leader lamented. 

On Thursday, during an informal interaction with reporters, Ms Kavitha was much more direct, pointing fingers at her brother KT Rama Rao, or KTR, without naming him, over what she perceives to be a betrayal and an attempt to sideline her. 

Ms Kavitha, a Member of Legislative Council, is the head of the women's wing of the BRS, while KTR, an MLA and former Telangana minister, has been the party's working president - a post that was also reportedly sought by her - since 2018. 

Without naming KTR, Ms Kavitha said that when she was in prison in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case between March and August last year, attempts were made by some within the party to merge it with the BJP. This was an idea, she said, that she had "firmly opposed".

In another attack on KTR, who is perceived to run the social media wing of the BRS, Ms Kavitha expressed anguish over the BRS leadership's silence on several sensitive issues, including the notice served to KCR by the Justice PC Ghose Commission, which is probing alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. 

The scheme - the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project -  was conceived and implemented by the BRS during its nearly decade-long rule in Telangana since the state's formation in 2014 until 2023, when it lost to the Congress. 

Ms Kavitha wondered why no protests were planned by the party and why only the Telangana Jagruti - a cultural wing headed by her - had announced that it would agitate on June 3, two days before KCR is supposed to appear before the panel. 

"Why is the BRS silent even after bulldozers were sent to our leaders' homes by the Congress government... Posting tweets won't strengthen the party. We need to agitate to survive," she said, in an apparent jibe at KTR. 

Taking another swipe, she said, "What will you gain by making paid artists speak against 'inti aadabidda' (a woman from your own family). When I had offered to resign from the party and for the MLC post, KCR had dissuaded me," she said.

Sources said the BRS leader has been disappointed that KTR and the party never mobilised its social media team to generate sympathy for her and speak out in her favour when she was being accused of involvement in, and then finally jailed for, the Delhi liquor policy 'scam'.

Another issue, they said, that has upset her is that there were posters only of KCR and KTR during the silver jubilee celebrations in Warangal. "She saw this as a sure sign that she was being sidelined and KTR was being projected as the next in line to be the BRS chief," said a source. 

Ms Kavitha also made this clear when she said on Thursday that KCR was her only leader and she would not work under anyone else's leadership. 

Letter Row

Pressed on the controversy over the leaked letter, Ms Kavitha said she had said KCR was surrounded by devils, but a better word would be "coverts", implying that there were people carrying out the agenda of other parties while staying in the BRS. 

"What mistake have I made? I want to know who leaked that letter. My team did not leak it," she said, adding, "It was meant for internal communication only."

Ms Kavitha said she had been writing letters to KCR for 25 years, and this was the first time he did not respond. "Every time, KCR used to tear the letters (after reading them). This time he didn't  - maybe that was my mistake."

The BRS leader also stressed she remains loyal to her party and is not after positions. 

"I never worked for posts. KCR allowed me to serve as an MLC. I only requested to be reappointed as the in-charge for Nizamabad constituency," she said, alluding to her loss from Nizamabad in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Sources close to Ms Kavitha had said at the time that leaders from the BRS had colluded to ensure that she lost.

"I'm straightforward. I don't do backstabbing politics. I don't care about money. Like KCR, I am here to stay, not go," Ms Kavitha declared.