HYDERABAD: After a long time, there is finally good news for the BRS. Its MLC and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter Kavitha got bail on Tuesday after being in jail for more than five months for her alleged role in the Delhi liquor policy scam.
The news has come as a shot in the arm for the party at a time when its spirits were at the lowest ebb.
Now that Kavitha is out of jail, there appears to be a belief in the BRS that better days are ahead. Hopes are soaring among pink party leaders that KCR would come out of his sabbatical and take the Congress head on.
The party leaders expect KCR to chalk out an action plan to cut the Congress down to size as it is riding on the crest of its popularity wave now. He might even begin touring districts and interacting with farmers as the party has a lot of ammunition now, with the state government “failing” to cover all farmers under its loan waiver scheme.
Eye on local body polls
As local body elections are drawing closer, KCR is likely to take up the task of preparing his party for the polls seriously. The question that is lurking in the minds of leaders is whether he would confront both the Congress and BJP equally.
After losing power in the last Assembly elections, the BRS president attended the Assembly just one day, when the Budget was being presented in the House.
In the three Assembly sessions that have gone by, it was former ministers KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao who led the party in the House, countering the attack on the previous BRS government on its omissions and commissions.
When the Congress government released white papers on several issues, including state finances, Kaleshwaram and power purchase agreements, it was the two leaders of the BRS who defended the party.
The party has been sailing in choppy waters with the government-appointed commissions of inquiry probing the allegations of corruption in the execution of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) and power purchase agreements when the BRS was in power.
Immediate challenge
But for the BRS, the immediate challenge is retaining the panchayats in the ensuing local body elections. KCR may also have to appear before the commissions of inquiry to present his arguments on the allegations against the BRS government.
At a recent meeting, Harish Rao had stated that the KCR will take up yatras to interact with farmers and rally them behind him by washing the Congress’ dirty linen in public on crop loan waiver.
This apart, the ruling Congress continues to drive home the point that the BRS and BJP were working hand in glove and the release of Kavitha from jail is yet another instance of their bonhomie and an indication of possible merger before long.
It remains to be seen how KCR would refute the talk of merger. For that he would have to attack the BJP but what he would do is the million-dollar question.
Key post or responsibility likely for Kavitha
In the wake of the release of MLC K Kavitha from Tihar Jail, an interesting discussion is on in party circles on what role she would assume, going forward. Her role in the party becomes all the more important with the BRS leaders claiming that her arrest was politically motivated and that there was no iota of evidence against her on her alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy scam. After her incarceration for more than five months, the question on whether Kavitha will take the BJP head on is an interesting one that is popping up in the minds of party leaders.
They are also wondering what responsibilities KCR would give her in the party. There is a growing feeling in party circles that Kavitha will get a prominent role alongside KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao. Alternatively, she might lead the frontal organisations as general secretary or be given another equally important post. They also wonder if Kavitha will partner with KTR in revamping the party organisationally. Conversely, it is also quite possible that she may be restricted to Nizamabad politics as she has represented the constituency in Lok Sabha in the past. The BRS and Bharat Jagruti leaders do not rule out the possibility of Kavitha leading the Bathukamma celebrations with which she has been identified for the last one decade.
Liquor policy case timeline
Nov 2021: Delhi government introduces new liquor policy
July 31, 2022: Policy withdrawn after allegations of corruption
Aug 17, 2022: FIR lodged by CBI against 15 accused, including then Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Kavitha’s close associate Arun Ramachandra Pillai
Oct 17, 2022: CBI questions Manish Sisodia
Dec 1, 2022: CBI grills Kavitha at her residence in Hyderabad
Feb 26, 2023: CBI arrests Manish Sisodia
March 11, 2023: ED questions Kavitha in New Delhi for about nine hours
March 20 & 21, 2023: ED again grills Kavitha in Delhi, seizes 10 mobile phones belonging to her
Jan 2024: ED summons Kavitha. She prefers to skip it
Feb 21, 2024: CBI summons Kavitha. She fails to appear
March 15, 2024: ED searches Kavitha’s Banjara Hills residence, arrests her at 5.20 pm
March 16, 2024: Kavitha produced before Rouse Avenue court, which grants ED custody
March 26, 2024: Kavitha sent to Tihar Jail as an undertrial prisoner by Rouse Avenue court
April 11, 2024: Kavitha arrested by CBI inside Tihar Jail
July 1, 2024: Delhi High Court denies bail to Kavitha
Aug 27, 2024: Supreme Court grants her bail in ED & CBI cases
