HYDERABAD: A day after her suspension from the BRS, K Kavitha on Wednesday parted ways with the party her father K Chandrasekhar Rao founded.
Announcing her resignation from the BRS as well as the Legislative Council, she advised her father and brother to be wary of her cousins T Harish Rao and J Santosh Kumar, who she alleged want to wrest control of the BRS. Kavitha said she would not join any political party immediately but would decide on her course of action after consulting Telangana Jagruthi activists and intellectuals.
In a presser, she launched a strong attack on Harish and Santosh, alleging that they were behind tapping phones during the BRS regime, including of her own staff and members of former IT minister and her brother KT Rama Rao’s team. “My father KCR is not the kind of person to tap phones. This was done by Harish and Santosh for their vested interests,” she alleged.
Kavitha alleged that in the 2018 Assembly elections, Harish disbursed additional funds to 20 candidates, questioning the source of the money. She claimed it came from corruption in the Kaleshwaram project.
Why is CM silent on Harish’s corruption: Kavitha
Kavitha also alleged that when Rama Rao contested from Sircilla in 2009, Harish Rao sent Rs 60 lakh through a relative to defeat him.
She questioned why central agencies had summoned Rama Rao several times but never investigated Harish Rao. She referred to allegations of irregularities in his milk business, encroachment of government land at Ranganayaka Sagar, and his role in shifting the Kaleshwaram project site from Tummidihatti to Medigadda. “The chief minister accuses only KCR’s family of corruption in Kaleshwaram. How is that possible when Harish Rao executed the project as irrigation minister?” she asked.
Kavitha accused Harish Rao of being backed by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, claiming that conspiracies against her began after the two travelled together on a flight between Hyderabad and Delhi. “Harish Rao has surrendered to Revanth Reddy. Let them clarify whether they travelled together or not,” she said.
She alleged that Harish Rao was not with the party in its formative stage and only returned after ten months. “He even met then chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy when the party was in trouble. He claims to be a troubleshooter, but he is a bubble shooter. He creates troubles and pretends to solve them,” she said.
As an example, she cited the MLC election of Dasoju Sravan, when Harish Rao allegedly pushed for a second candidate despite knowing that 10 MLAs had defected, leading to complications.
Kavitha blamed Harish Rao for the exit of leaders such as Eatala Rajender, Jagga Reddy, Cheruku Srinivas Reddy, Raghunandan Rao, Mynampally Hanumantha Rao, Vijaya Ramana Rao and Vijayashanti. She said his actions caused the party’s defeats in Dubbaka and Huzurabad by-elections and even ensured Eatala Rajender’s win on a BJP ticket.
Turning to Santosh, she described him as greedy and said he “was like salt damaging the curry.” She accused him of involvement in a liquor shop case and of pressuring police to torture seven Dalit villagers in Nerella during protests against sand mining, which, she said, brought disrepute to Rama Rao. She also alleged that BRS MLC Pochampally Srinivas Reddy, Santosh’s classmate, amassed unexplained wealth.
On her suspension, Kavitha said she was targeted for raising public issues across 47 constituencies since November 2024. “Is raising public issues anti-party activity? Harish Rao and Santosh spread false propaganda that I would launch a new party. Is BRS against ‘Samajika Telangana’ that I would have launched one?” she asked.
Appealing directly to Rama Rao, she said: “I am your sister and a woman MLC. When I informed you that leaders were conspiring against me, did you do your duty as working president? It has been 103 days, and you have not responded. That silence pained me.”
Kavitha added: “I never hurt KCR or KTR. They treated me like an MP or MLC from the opposition even when BRS was in power. KTR, beware. Please take care of KCR’s health. Protect the BRS.”
She concluded by urging her father to be vigilant: “I share my blood with KCR and KTR, but vested interests are trying to break our family. They suspended me only because I was straightforward. Ultimately, they want to grab BRS by sidelining us.”