Kavitha explodes, alleges BRS-BJP merger bid, slams party leadership and ‘coverts'

Time of India

30-05-2025

Hyderabad: In a dramatic escalation of intra-party squabbling, BRS MLC and former MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of party supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, on Thursday accused senior leaders within her own party of attempting to merge the Bharat Rashtra Samithi with the BJP—a move she says she vehemently opposed even while incarcerated in the Delhi liquor policy scam case last year.
In an informal but politically loaded media interaction at her Banjara Hills residence, Kavitha tore into the party leadership, indirectly targeting working president and her brother KT Rama Rao for failing to act against 'internal coverts,' not responding to attacks from the Congress, and remaining silent during a coordinated smear campaign against her.
"When I was in jail, there was talk of merging BRS with BJP.
I told my father KCR clearly: Let the party remain independent, even if it meant I stayed in jail for six months or another year," Kavitha said. The MLC said her actions were aimed only at strengthening the party, and backstabbing was not in her DNA.
'Backstabbed from within'
Kavitha said there was a deliberate internal conspiracy to sideline her and sever her influence with KCR. Referring to the leak of a private feedback letter she had written to her father earlier this month, she accused party insiders—"coverts," as she put it—of attempting to discredit her and questioned why the party leadership failed to identify or act against those responsible.
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"Instead of finding the ones who leaked the letter, they unleashed paid social media trolls and media artistes—even from abroad—to malign me. I demanded action against 'leaku veerulu' (those who leaked my letter), but they seem more focused on 'Greeku veerulu' (Greek warriors)," she quipped.
Despite the fallout, she said she stood by her letter, which highlighted the lack of aggressive opposition to the Congress, the need for BC reservations, and the declining accessibility of party leaders.
"I have written hundreds of letters over 25 years. This was not new. After reading the letters, KCR tears them. The only difference is—this one wasn't torn up by KCR, and it was leaked to the media by some coverts," she remarked.
Without naming him directly, Kavitha repeatedly criticised KTR's passive approach to major political developments, including the Congress-led probe into the Kaleshwaram project and the symbolic BRS protest over the Telangana Thalli statue.
She mocked the leadership's decision to celebrate the party's silver jubilee abroad while ignoring issues at home. She said the silver jubilee public meeting in Warangal was a huge success because of KCR.
"When Congress changed the Telangana Thalli statue, we wore black for one day and moved on. But we had more outrage over Adani?" she asked, questioning the party's priorities.
'Won't work under anyone'
She also hit out at the party's failure to support local BRS leaders whose institutions faced demolition, saying the leadership remained 'mute spectators.'
Declaring that she would never leave BRS unless pushed, Kavitha made it clear she would not work under anyone but KCR (who she called her boss), while still respecting the position of the working president. "Some people who preach morals today never ran the show themselves. They always stood behind KCR's shadow," she claimed.
Kavitha avoided giving a direct answer about floating a new political party. However, she reiterated that her fight was for transparency and reform within BRS.
"My only demand right now is to expose the moles within the party. That's the starting point," she said.
She distanced herself from rumours about joining the Congress, describing it as a 'sinking ship' and affirming that she hadn't been in contact with any Congress leaders since 2013, during the Telangana statehood agitation. "Back then, it was KCR and I who met Sonia Gandhi through Oscar Fernandes," she recalled.
Ironically, she alleged that some BRS leaders were currently hobnobbing with both Congress and BJP—one even attending a BJP leader's hospital inauguration while the party remained unaware or indifferent.
'Not after power or posts'
Kavitha also revealed that she offered to resign from her MLC post after her arrest, but KCR discouraged it. She clarified that her nomination to the legislative council after her 2019 Lok Sabha defeat was more for 'protocol reasons,' and due to lack of local support from BRS MLAs in her constituency.
"I wasn't given the MLC for power. It was so I could have a platform in Nizamabad," she said, suggesting she was still paying the price for internal sabotage in 2019.
She further emphasised that her Telangana Jagruthi initiatives, including caste census and BC reservations, were never meant to challenge the BRS, but to strengthen its social justice plank.