HYDERABAD: MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of BRS president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has recently been grappling with major challenges, the latest one being her suspension from the BRS for her “anti-party activities”.
Kavitha’s political journey began in 2006 when she returned from the US to join the Telangana movement. Under the mentorship of Telangana ideologue Prof K Jayashankar, she founded Telangana Jagruthi, a cultural organisation dedicated to promoting Telangana’s traditions and heritage.
Through Jagruthi, she elevated the Bathukamma festival to a prominent cultural celebration, uniting all communities during the statehood movement.
After Telangana’s formation in 2014, Kavitha contested and won the Lok Sabha elections from Nizamabad. However, she lost the seat in the 2019 polls to BJP’s D Arvind. Following this loss, KCR reportedly sidelined her within the party, reducing her prominence.
Despite objections from some party leaders, Kavitha was fielded for the Nizamabad local bodies MLC seat in 2020, which she won. She was re-nominated and was re-elected from the same constituency in 2022. Political analysts suggested that tensions between Kavitha and her brother, KT Rama Rao, emerged after his appointment as BRS working president in 2018.
Kavitha faced further challenges with the Delhi liquor policy case in 2022, which strained her relationship with the BRS. While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) framed similar allegations against its leaders as a political issue, the BRS reportedly offered little support to Kavitha, leaving her to defend herself.
The BRS’s defeat in the 2023 Telangana elections intensified scrutiny on Kavitha, with some party leaders attributing the loss to her involvement in the Delhi liquor policy case. In March 2024, she was arrested by the ED and CBI.
After her release in August 2024, Kavitha did not stir out of home for a brief period before resuming her political activities.
Tensions escalated after the BRS silver jubilee meeting in Warangal in April 2025, where Kavitha expressed disappointment over KCR’s speech, particularly its failure to address the BJP critically, as expected by party activists. In a letter to KCR, she voiced her concerns, but the letter’s leak in May 2025 deepened the rift. Kavitha demanded an inquiry into the leak, but the BRS distanced itself, excluding her from party programmes.
Undeterred, Kavitha has since focused on advocating for Samajika Telangana, launching a movement under Telangana Jagruthi to empower Backward Classes (BCs) by demanding 42% reservations for BCs in local bodies. Her recent activities signal a shift toward independent political efforts outside the BRS framework.
Sidelined after defeat in 2019 polls
After she lost the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 elections to BJP’s Dharmapuri Arvind, BRS chief K Chanderasekhar Rao reportedly sidelined her within the party.
