There was a groundswell of support for Kavitha from her party, with leaders lashing out at the BJP for the notices issued by the ED.
BRS MLC K Kavitha. (Supplied)
There was a groundswell of support for BRS MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter Kavitha Kalvakuntla from her party.
BRS leaders — big and small — lashed out at the BJP for the notices issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to her to appear before it on Thursday, 9 February.
However, the Opposition BJP and the Congress reacted on expected lines, saying that they stood vindicated when they said KCR’s family was mired in corruption.
Telangana Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy described the notices as an act of political vengeance.
The BJP was trying to target Kavitha because it was unable to stand up to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, he claimed.
He also said that ED issuing notices to Kavitha was an indication of the extent to which the Central government could go in misusing the statutory investigation agencies and eroding their credibility.
“The people are laughing whenever either the ED or the CBI issues notices or registers cases against anyone,” he said.
The minister, in a counter-offensive, asked the Centre why it had not yet reacted to the Adani muddle even when it portended a threat to the very economy of the country.
“How come neither the CBI nor the ED investigated the stock price manipulation by the Adani Group?” he asked.
He also recalled how the BJP pulled down democratically elected governments in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra by purchasing MLAs.
The minister said the BJP was trying to register cases against those who were not toeing its line. The saffron party wanted everyone to come under its control, he said.
He wanted to how, after levelling serious allegations against Conrad Sangma, the BJP could lend support to him and join his government in Meghalaya.
“Doesn’t it indicate the double standards of the BJP when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah attend Sangma’s swearing-in ceremony?” he asked.
He said that the BJP was daydreaming that it would come to power in Telangana, but it would never happen. “The BJP cannot stymie the growth of the BRS by registering cases against its leaders,” he said.
Telangana Energy Minister G Jadeeswara Reddy, who was the first to react to the notices, described the act as the acme of the BJP’s policy of enacting political vengeance against the Opposition leaders.
The bigger picture one should keep in mind is that the notices were issued to Kavitha in an attempt to force KCR to fall in line but that would not happen, he said.
Serving ED notices on Kavitha on International Women’s Day was the most heinous of all the BJP’s actions, he said, pointing out that it only showed how much regard the BJP had for women.
Ministers Errabelli Dayakar Rao (Panchayat Raj) and Satyavathi Rathod (Tribal and Women Welfare) also came out in support of Kavitha, saying the strong-arm tactics of the Centre would not make the BRS buckle.
The ED’s action was intended to stifle Kavitha’s voice as she had decided to raise the demand for bringing in the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, they alleged.
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