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The internal crisis in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), leading to the suspension of the patriarch K Chandrashekhar Rao’s rebellious daughter K Kavitha, follows a familiar script of the downfall that the family-run regional parties often face in India.

 

Outwardly, they appear like a tight-knit organisation under firm control of the founder-patriarch but even a minor clash of egos among the key players in the family can trigger an implosion. This is what is happening in the case of the BRS, once seen as an invincible political force that spearheaded the Telangana statehood movement.

 

The family drama is centred on predictable themes of loyalty, betrayal, power, and pelf.

 

After losing power in the December 2023 assembly polls, tensions began to crop up in KCR’s family. The simmering power struggle has now come to the fore with the party MLC Kavitha raising a banner of revolt and training her guns at KCR’s nephews and trusted aides—former minister T Harish Rao and former Rajya Sabha member Santosh Rao.

 

She dubbed them as “anacondas of corruption”.

 

She accused her cousins of amassing huge wealth through corrupt deeds and bringing disrepute to the party patriarch. This is a sensational allegation because Harish and Satish are the close confidants of KCR and constitute his inner circle which Kavitha dubbed as the ‘ring of devils’.

 

Real target

 

However, the real target of her anger and frustration is her estranged brother and the party working president K T Rama Rao, the chosen successor to his father’s political legacy. However, Kavitha has refrained from attacking him in public, for now.

 

Now that she has been suspended from the party, she is expected to go on the offensive, directly targeting KTR in the days ahead. 

 

By anointing his son as the party working president in 2018, KCR had left no one in doubt about his succession plan but Kavitha has made known her political ambitions to play a bigger role in the party.

 

The sibling rivalry has deepened further when she made it clear that she would not accept KTR as her leader.

 

Kavitha, who was arrested and jailed briefly last year for her alleged role in the Delhi liquor scam, is peeved that the party leadership did not support her fully during the difficult times. 

 

Double whammy

 

Kavitha’s stunning revolt came a day after the Congress government announced a CBI probe into the allegations of irregularities in the execution of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), a flagship initiative of the previous BRS regime.

 

By levelling corruption charges against her own party seniors, Kavitha has virtually vindicated the ruling Congress’ position that massive irregularities took place in the execution of the Kaleshwaram project.

 

Kavitha’s rebellious act could not have come at a more inopportune time for the BRS which is grappling with imminent CBI case.

 

“The party leadership is taking this matter seriously as the recent behaviour and ongoing anti-party activities of party MLC Mrs. K. Kavitha are damaging the BRS party,” the BRS said in a statement announcing Kavitha’s suspension.

 

The burst of revolt has also exposed the vulnerability of the regional party run by KCR with an iron fist. “Because of the corrupt deeds of some leaders, KCR is facing the humiliation of a CBI inquiry, a blot on his dedicated and selfless public life,” she said, clearly pointing the accusing finger at her Harish Rao, who was the irrigation minister in the KCR cabinet.

 

KCR made scapegoat

 

The timing of her attack on the party insiders has stunned the political circles. She accused Harish and Santosh of amassing huge assets while making her father a ‘scapegoat’ in the Kaleshwaram scam.

 

Kavitha chose to train her guns at senior party leaders at a hurriedly held press conference, hours after landing in Hyderabad after her 10-day trip to the United States.

 

She took strong exception to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy ordering a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project. She even insinuated that the corrupt TRS leaders were hand-in-glove with the CM as part of a conspiracy to defame KCR.

 

“When a great leader like KCR is forced to face a CBI inquiry, does it even matter whether the BRS survives or not?” she wondered.

 

She directly accused Harish Rao and Santosh of being responsible for irregularities, if any, in the construction of Kaleshwaram irrigation project. “It was Harish Rao and Santosh Rao who handled key aspects of the project. They accumulated huge assets blinding KCR. They are the anacondas of corruption,” she alleged.

 

Kavitha said that KCR had done so much for Telangana that he barely even cared for his own well-being. She expressed pain that a CBI probe was being ordered against her father, lamenting that the man celebrated as the hero who achieved Telangana was now being dragged through the mud.

 

Also read: Kaleshwaram project: CBI probe, masterstroke or strategic error?

 

She warned that if her father’s reputation was tarnished, it would also damage their family’s honour.

 

Reiterating that Harish Rao and Santosh played a major role in the Kaleshwaram project, Kavitha said that they, along with contractor Megha Krishna Reddy, were responsible for the current situation.

 

She claimed that Harish Rao’s removal as irrigation minister during the second term of the BRS was a consequence of his alleged role in the Kaleshwaram irregularities. She also accused her detractors of spreading “false propaganda” against her on social media to tarnish her image.

 

She questioned why the party itself was not responding strongly to the investigation, saying that losing an election is one thing, but losing one’s honour is far worse. “Why has the BRS not called for a Telangana bandh when Revanth Reddy announced a CBI probe into Kaleshwaram?” she asked.

 

Kavitha asserted that she would remain independent and demanded a direct inquiry into those she had named, claiming that the real facts would then come out.

 

Independent path

 

It is clear from Kavitha’s outburst that she is preparing to leave the party and tread her own path. On his part, KCR too is in no mood for any reconciliation with his rebellious daughter.

 

At present, Kavitha heads ‘Telangana Jagruthi’, a cultural organisation of the party. Meanwhile, she was unanimously elected as the honorary president of Hindustan Mazdoor Sangh (HMS), one of the trade unions in the Singareni Collieries.

 

At its general body meeting held in Srirampur, Mancherial district, HMS general secretary Riaz Ahmed proposed her name for the honorary position, which was unanimously approved by the members.

 

Her election comes a few days after she was removed from the Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS), apparently by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leadership, and replaced by former minister Koppula Eashwar.