K Chandrasekhar Rao faces internal turmoil as daughter Kavitha's letter stirs unrest in BRS
HYDERABAD: On Friday, a day after a bombshell in the form of a letter written by his daughter exploded in public, the focus shifted to K Chandrasekhar Rao, the once-unassailable patriarch of the BRS. He is now facing what many in Telangana’s political corridors are calling the unkindest cut of all.
While the contents of BRS MLC K Kavitha’s letter are now public, it is not what she wrote but how KCR will respond that has gripped the imagination of the party’s leaders and cadre, and KCR’s rivals alike.
Having receded from the centre stage following the BRS’s electoral setbacks and dealing with the recent summons by the PC Ghose Commission probing the allegations of irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project, KCR would certainly not have preferred any troubles, trivial or major, from within his own family.
Unlike in the past, when leaders like Eatala Rajender were expelled from the party for dissent, the question KCR faces now is not of discipline but of kinship.
Late-night teleconference
BRS insiders disclosed that Thursday evening was not a quiet one. A late-night teleconference involving KCR, his son KT Rama Rao and nephew
T Harish Rao reportedly took place behind closed doors. What was discussed between them remains undisclosed, but the timing has not gone unnoticed.
Within the BRS, speculation is rife. Kavitha’s decision to raise questions about social justice and internal party practices has stirred unease.
Her public outreach through her foundation, Telangana Jagruti, and her participation in the Congress government’s caste census were already viewed with caution. Her public remarks on party infighting and targeted smear campaigns on social media have only added to the tremors.
Now that Kavitha is back home from a personal trip to the US, the anticipation is building — will there be a meeting between father and daughter? Will KTR or Harish Rao broker a rapprochement? Or will this remain a wound that festers within the BRS family?
Curious declaration
Adding to the intrigue are recent events surrounding Harish Rao. His reaction to not being given a prominent role in organising the BRS silver jubilee celebrations raised eyebrows. He quelled the speculation at a press conference by stating that he would serve under Rama Rao if the latter were made state party president. However, it was a curious declaration as no such appointment has been discussed publicly yet. Some wonder whether this signalled broader discontent or preemptive positioning.
For now, there has been no formal comment from Rama Rao or Harish Rao on Kavitha’s letter. But senior party leaders admit to a perceptible shift. “There is a visible gap,” one admitted, pointing not only to Kavitha’s divergence from the party line but also to tensions between her and other members of the family regarding the distribution of influence within the BRS.
What KCR chooses to do next — whether to address Kavitha’s concerns quietly or to assert the authority of his position — is the crucial question. For a leader who once commanded mass movements and redrew state boundaries, this is a different kind of reckoning.
Will he draw his daughter close, as a father might, or respond as the president of a party under pressure? In either case, the unkindest cut has been made. What remains is to see whether it heals or deepens.