The BRS, the main opposition party in Telangana, experienced a significant internal conflict on Tuesday, leading to the suspension of K. Kavitha, daughter of party founder K. Chandrashekhara Rao. The suspension came as a result of alleged “anti-party activities.”
The ruling Congress party in the state and the opposition BJP have both characterized the situation as a family dispute, though they have capitalized on Kavitha’s accusations of corruption against her cousins, who are senior BRS leaders, to criticize KCR and his party. Kavitha’s repeated accusations against her cousins, former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao and former MP J. Santosh Rao, regarding corruption, ultimately led to her suspension. The suspension order was communicated by BRS general secretary T. Ravinder Rao.
Kavitha’s suspension sparked immediate protests from supporters of Telangana Jagruti, a social organization she established. She alleged that her cousins had accumulated vast assets and made her father, KCR, a scapegoat in the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project scandal. Her supporters protested against what they viewed as an injustice.
However, opponents of BRS dismissed the developments as political theater. N. Ramchander Rao, the BJP’s Telangana state president, utilized Kavitha’s allegations to target the former Chief Minister and his party, stating that the accusations exposed the corruption during the BRS government’s rule and highlighted internal disagreements over the distribution of ill-gotten wealth. Mahesh Kumar Goud, president of the Telangana Congress unit, described Kavitha’s suspension as a pre-planned drama, further accusing KCR’s family of widespread corruption.
Prior to her suspension, Kavitha had accused former ministers Harish and Santosh of corruption related to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project, which is now under CBI investigation. She claimed they had accumulated immense wealth, manipulating KCR. Following her allegations, the Telangana government has initiated a CBI probe, while a judicial commission has also been established to investigate the alleged irregularities.
