CBI notice to Kavitha: BJP’s attempt to bring BRS to its knees or dispel the notion of covert alliance with it?

The CBI might even arrest her. It has already changed her status in the case from witness to suspect by serving her notice under Section 41(A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to appear at its office in Delhi on Monday, 26 February. She did not comply with the notice. The ball is now in the CBI’s court. It has the authority to arrest her if it chooses to.

Also Read: Summoned as ‘suspect’?

Logic behind Kavitha’s possible arrest

The possibility of arrest is hinted at as the BJP’s effort to shed the taint that it was covertly in league with the BRS. This public perception cost the two parties dearly in the recent Assembly elections.

It is also said that the BJP may be using the CBI to subjugate the BRS into helping it win as many Lok Sabha seats as possible while publicly appearing to be fighting with each other.

Already, the Congress, fully energized from the unexpected landslide victory in the Assembly elections, is not taking its foot off the gas pedal in propagating that the BRS and the BJP have a clandestine understanding to help each other out in the Lok Sabha election.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, speaking to reporters recently, said that the two parties have an underhand deal: BRS would help the BJP win 10 seats, and the saffron party would handhold the BRS to pick up seven seats.

He convinced the people, particularly Muslims, that KCR and the BJP leaders were on the same page. With the circumstantial evidence also backing Revanth Reddy’s claim, the Muslims seem to have sensed that something is fishy about both parties.

Also Read: KCR has covert operatives in BJP

Dispelling the notion of alliance

Now, the two parties have to prove that Revanth Reddy is wrong. Though the BRS is not forthcoming to say so openly because it is out of power, the BJP is making it clear that it has nothing to do with the BRS and that it treated the BRS and Congress as two sides of the same coin.

BJP leader Bandi Sanjay even said that he would confront the BRS leaders if they claimed to have an alliance with the saffron party.

The delay in taking action against Kavitha in the Delhi liquor scam in the past suggested that there was a thaw in relations between the two parties. The pink party mellowed down over a period of time ever since the central agencies began issuing summons to Kavitha to appear before them in the liquor scam in December 2022.

It is not yet known if the CBI would go to the extent of arresting her, or will give another date and time for her to appear for questioning, or she would move the court against the notice issued to her under Section 41(A) of CrPC.

What is becoming clear is that the central investigation agencies have been following a pattern that suits the BJP.

They either go after her, almost bearing down on her or keep off from her for months together, suggesting that it is not the facts of the case but the whims of those who matter in the ruling dispensation at the centre that regulate their speed of investigation.

It appears that the BJP’s latest gambit is to have the CBI summon her for questioning. The reason is perhaps to alter the impression that the BJP and the BRS are covert friends. The move will also answer why it had not arrested Kavitha if she was really guilty of the liquor scam.

Unless the BJP orders the arrest of Kavitha, there is no way that the people would consider both the BJP and the BRS as rivals. That would help them salvage their image before going in for Lok Sabha polls.

Also Read: Support swells for ‘Kavitha Akka’

When the questioning began

The BJP’s “persecution” of Kavitha and the BRS began when the CBI recorded her statement as a witness in December 2022 and subsequent questioning by the ED. Later, Kavitha built a protective wall around her by moving the Supreme Court against ED summons.

She had said in her petition that the law of the land allows her to be questioned at her residence since she is a woman and that she wants to exercise the option. Her petition is pending adjudication, and the Supreme Court is expected to hear the case again on 28 February.

About two years ago, the Congress was nowhere in the reckoning. It was still reeling under the relentless onslaught of KCR. He hijacked two-thirds of its MLAs, leaving the party with just five lawmakers. The party was at its lowest ebb.

Conversely, the BJP began rising under Bandi Sanjay as its president. The saffron party did commendably well in the GHMC elections, and its strength in the Assembly, which was only one, grew to three as it won two by-elections. It had given nightmares to the BRS in the Munugode by-election before throwing in the towel.

Meanwhile, another development has been taking place, though seemingly unconnected. The CBI and the ED adopted menacing postures towards Kavitha for her alleged role in the Delhi Liquor Sam. The CBI recorded her statement while the ED grilled her several times in Delhi for long hours. Kavitha began fighting a legal battle against the ED, which turned peremptory.

Also Read: Modi attacks ‘family rule’ in Telangana

Inversely proportional reactions

Then, suddenly, a change came over the BRS. Until then, BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao used to pounce upon the BJP like a tiger. He used to take the party to the cleaners at every public meeting. He even intended to play a significant role at the national level. He changed his party’s name from TRS to BRS and began making forays into neighbouring Maharashtra while setting up the party’s branches in other states, including AP and Odisha. He built the party’s office in Delhi before waging a battle against Narendra Modi.

As the frequency of the investigation agencies calling Kavitha for questioning increased, the firepower of KCR and other BRS leaders reduced significantly. KCR was not the same fiery and doughty leader ready for Narendra Modi’s scalp. He continued addressing meetings in Maharashtra but skirted the task of taking on the BJP. He limited himself to his Telangana model of development, which he said, when replicated, would make India a land of milk and honey.

Putting two and two together, people saw it would be safer if they moved away from the BRS and the BJP as they were not what they claimed they were. They moved towards the Congress. The BJP cadres who fought against the BRS under the impression that it was their political rival began wondering whether they were being taken for a ride.

Political commentator Telakapalli Ravi said, “That there is a secret pact between BJP and the BRS is beyond any doubt. Both parties cannot come to an open alliance because of the political backlash they would face. That is why they are positioning themselves as arch rivals.”