Though she did not specifically name anyone, Kavitha, daughter of BRS President K Chandrashekar Rao, directed her wrath at Working President and her brother KT Rama Rao
Published May 29, 2025 | 4:09 PM ⚊ Updated May 29, 2025 | 4:09 PM
KT Rama Rao, K Chandrashekar Rao, and K Kavitha.
Synopsis: In a no-holds-barred attack on the BRS leaders, specifically Working President KT Rama Rao, MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha accused them of conspiring to merge the party with the BJP, alienating her father K Chandrashekar Rao in the Medigadda pier’s collapse incident, and a concerted effort to target her.
The fissures and sibling rivalry within the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) came to the fore once again on Thursday, 29 May, with party MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha launching a broadside against the organisation’s leadership.
Though she did not specifically name anyone, Kavitha, daughter of BRS President K Chandrashekar Rao, directed her wrath at Working President and her brother KT Rama Rao, saying she was being targeted on social media for opposing an intraparty conspiracy to merge with the BJP.
At an informal interaction with reporters in Hyderabad, Kavitha said she was being targeted for opposing the merger conspiracy.
“This (merger) proposal came up when I was in jail. I opposed it and urged KCR not to take any hasty decision,” Kavitha, who has been furious with “the demons” in the party for leaking her confidential letter to her father, said, adding that the conspiracy was not new.
Kavitha was arrested in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy – 2021-’22 scam on 15 March 2024. She was granted bail on 27 August the same year.
Shortly after Kavitha’s outburst, a key BRS member and Telangana’s former digital director, Konatham Dileep, took to X with a brief but not-so-subtle message.
“Never try to slay imaginary ghosts! You are bound to get disappointed,” he said.
An accompanying tile in capital letters said: “The imaginary ghosts we try to slay are not outside us — they live in our minds,” which seemed to be an altered version of US author Stephan King’s oft-quoted, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win,” from his horror novel, The Shining.
Speaking to reporters, she recalled telling her father that she would stay in jail even for six months. She also revealed her offer to resign as an MLC following her arrest, but listened to her father’s advice against quitting.
She took objection to KTR’s alleged veiled reference that she was a covert Congress operative. “If I were a covert Congress operative, then should I assume that there are BJP moles in the party?” she asked.
Kavitha said it was not proper for “the leaders” in the party to target her, a member of the family, using social media from outside the country. Taking a sarcastic tone, she advised those trying to tell her right and wrong to focus on the party’s interests.
Never try to slay imaginary ghosts! You are bound to get disappointed. pic.twitter.com/oDryHhtj6y
— Konatham Dileep (@KonathamDileep) May 29, 2025
The MLC, however, categorically pledged her allegiance to her father and party chief, KCR.
“In the BRS, KCR is the only leader. I will not work under anyone other than him,” she said, and dismissed as hogwash some reports of her bargaining with the Congress for a cabinet berth — if she joined that party along with six BRS MLCs.
Kavitha termed the Congress a sinking ship and dismissed the need for her to join the party. She hinted that those working against her interests had planted media reports that appeared on Thursday.
Coming down heavily on those who supported KTR after the Anti-Corruption Bureau issued notices to him in the Formula E case, she sought to know why the same solidarity was missing when the PC Ghosh Commission had summoned KCR in connection with the Medigadda barrage piers’ collapse.
Kavitha dared those targeting her to show their bravado against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who had notices issued to KCR in the Medigadda case. She warned of getting “very nasty” if the push came to a shove.
She also poked fun at those posting messages on X daily rather than fighting against the government on issues that concerned the people. “Is it appropriate to use paid artists to continue a smear campaign against me?” she asked.
Kavitha questioned “these forces” campaigning against her when she demanded to make public the names of those who had leaked her letter to KCR.
“Like KCR, I too could be very unpredictable. I am not used to backstabbing politics. I only fight face to face,” she said, adding, “I am not leaving the party. I recognise KCR as the only leader in the party. No one can make me leave. No one is capable of doing it.”
Earlier, her 2 May confidential letter to KCR was leaked to the media. In the letter, Kavitha had pointed out the grey areas in the running of the party and its failure in effectively taking on the BJP.
She said the 3 June protest by Telangana Jagruti against notices served to KCR would take place as planned. Instead of reacting to the leaked letter, my focus would remain on the protest. That is how I move forward,” she said.
Kavitha questioned those around KCR, asking whether they believed their efforts had made the Hanamkonda public meeting a grand success. “They are thinking that they are so big that they could lead KCR.”
The BRS leader also questioned the party leadership’s prolonged silence on major issues, including changing the location of the Telangana Thalli statue.
She also targeted those organising the BRS’s silver jubilee event in the United States. “What are we celebrating there (in the US) when there is so much to be done here?” she asked, obliquely taking a swipe at KTR, attending the event as the chief guest.
Kavitha lashed out at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, dismissing his claims of non-interference in Telangana’s projects. She said that Naidu announced the 200 Tmcft Banakacharla project, linking Godavari with Penna, after a meeting with Revanth Reddy.
She demanded an immediate halt to the project and wanted the Telangana government to exert pressure on the TDP, as the project would hurt the state’s interests. Kavitha added that her organisation, Telangana Jagruti, would hold round-table meetings to raise awareness and mobilise public opinion against the project.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
