Published Feb 21, 2026 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 21, 2026 | 8:00 AM
Kavitha said her new party would emerge as a strong alternative and eventually come to power in the state.
Synopsis: Telangana Jagruthi president and former BRS MLC K Kavitha said she will launch a new political party in May and contest the next Assembly elections from either Siddipet or Bodhan, with Siddipet as her first choice. She said her party would offer a strong alternative and would eventually come to power in the state.
Telangana Jagruthi president and former BRS MLC K Kavitha has announced that she will formally launch a new political party in May.
The party’s name, she said, will prominently feature “Telangana”, which she said is a sign of her commitment to reclaim the state’s “self-respect and aspirations”.
Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad on Thursday, 19 February, Kavitha declared that she would contest the next Assembly elections from either Siddipet or Bodhan.
She said a final decision would follow consultations but made it clear that Siddipet is her first preference.
Siddipet has long been a stronghold of her cousin, former Minister and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao, and Kavitha’s signal that she may contest from there is a direct political challenge.
Since leaving the BRS, she has repeatedly targeted Harish Rao. In recent months, she has accused him of several “omissions and commissions” during the previous BRS regime.
She said leaders like him caused a rift between her father, former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and several party functionaries, including herself, during her time in the BRS.
She alleged that internal missteps and the concentration of power alienated grassroots workers, which weakened the party’s link with its cadre.
She also hit out at Harish Rao over his attack on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for taking the entire Cabinet to New Delhi to meet the Congress high command.
“Was it proper to ask the Cabinet to go to Erravalli farmhouse during the BRS regime?” she asked, in a veiled swipe at the previous government’s functioning.
She accused BRS leaders of double standards and using rhetoric selectively.
Kavitha said her new party would emerge as a strong alternative and eventually come to power in the state. She predicted that the BJP would “disappear little by little” from Telangana politics and said voters are looking beyond national parties for a regional force rooted in local aspirations.
She said several BRS leaders and grassroots workers are in touch with her and are keen to join her new outfit.
“There is a silent churn within the party,” she said, suggesting that dissatisfaction in BRS ranks could lead to defections once her party is formally launched.
She also set out her immediate electoral plans. As the party may not be registered in time, her supporters and nominees will contest the upcoming Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency elections on the symbol of another party. It is unclear which symbol they will choose.
She said she expects the party to secure official recognition and a symbol from the Election Commission before elections to the three city municipal corporations.
On policy, Kavitha promised that if voted to power, her party would merge the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) with the government.
She said the BRS had earlier promised the move but it did not materialise because the Governor withheld assent. The present Congress government, she added, has also failed to act on the issue.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
