Published Nov 18, 2022 | 2:44 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 18, 2022 | 5:47 PM
TRC MLC K Kavitha (Supplied).
TRS MLC and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha on Friday, 18 November, asserted that she had turned down, without any second thought, an invitation by some BJP supporters to join their party.
Replying to a question at a news conference in Hyderabad, she said: “They wanted me to leave the TRS. They said it would be like the ‘Shinde model’. But I told them I had no interest in any other party except the TRS.”
“I made them understand that the ‘Shinde model’ does not work in Telangana. After I made my point very clear, they left me,” she said, implying that the BJP had attempted to lure her into splitting the party and bringing the TRS government down in the state.
The TRS leader took serious exception to Nizamabad MP D Arvind, who, while denying that they had ever invited her to join the BJP, said she had contacted AICC president Mallikharjun Kharge in a bid to join the grand old party.
“I will not leave the TRS and my leader KCR. In the future, if the people support us, we will also serve them nationally. Why should I bother about a party which has no roots in Telangana or an emotional bonding with the people of Telangana?” she asked.
Kavitha’s revelation came even as the BJP is on the defensive over the ‘Cash for MLAs’ row, in which the party allegedly sent emissaries to poach four TRS MLAs.
The MLC tried to turn the tables on Arvind by asking him what business he had with the Congress when he said that an AICC secretary had tipped him off that she was showing interest in joining the Congress.
“Why should a Congress secretary divulge such information to him unless he had a secret understanding with the Congress? Everyone in Nizamabad knows how the Congress had surrendered to the BJP and helped Arvind win the Lok Sabha election in 2019,” she said.
Kavitha, livid at Arvind for sullying her image, said: “If he does not mend his habit of tarnishing my image, I will slap him with footwear at a Nizamabad intersection, right amid people. What does he think of himself? Does he think he can say anything and get away with it,” she asked.
She added that she would soon be complaining to the Election Commission as she had evidence that he had obtained a fake Rajasthan University degree.
“Since I fought the election for Lok Sabha from Nizamabad against him, I will lodge the complaint with ECI,”” she said.
Later, TRS workers marched to Aravind’s residence at Banjara Hills and damaged window panes and furniture. They also burnt him in effigy.
“TRS goons attacked and vandalised my house,” the MP tweeted, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
కెసిఆర్, KTR, K.కవిత ల ఆదేశాలపై హైదరాబాద్ లోని నా ఇంటిపై దాడి చేసిన TRS గుండాలు.
ఇంట్లో వస్తువులు పగలగొడుతూ, బీభత్సం సృష్టిస్తూ, మా అమ్మను బెదిరించారు!
TRS goons attacked my residence and vandalised the house.
They terrorised my mother & created ruckus.@PMOIndia @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/LwtzZU4rfg
— Arvind Dharmapuri (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Arvindharmapuri) November 18, 2022
Replying to a question on whether she had anything to do with the Delhi Liquor scam, she said, “I have not been summoned. In fact, I got a court order restraining anyone from making allegations against me that I was involved in the scam. But they (BJP Leaders) keep raising the issue time and again because they have no respect for the democratic institutions in the country,” she said, adding that if at all they get any proof, let them come. We will cooperate,” she said.
Referring to the BJP using ED, CBI and I-T department to harass its political adversaries, she recalled Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s words that the ED had not allowed him an extension of time to appear before it despite telling it that he was not going to run away as he was in a constitutional position.
She said ever since the BJP assumed power eight years ago, a staggering 25,000 cases have been registered against its political rivals.
“If one says Jai Modi, there will be no raids. Or if one joins the BJP, the probe agencies drop all charges. Are the BJP leaders born in the (River) Ganga to be blemishless? How could anyone joining the BJP suddenly turn immaculate as though they had been washed with ‘Nirma washing powder’,” she asked.
