BRS MLC K Kavitha
Credit: PTI Photo
Hyderabad: BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter, MLC Kavitha, is keeping everyone guessing about her next move amid speculation that she may leave the BRS if she doesn't receive solid assurance from her father and party patriarch about her role in the party.
In the past two days, two emissaries from her father have reached out to her in an attempt to pacify and placate her.
Following the leak of a letter she wrote to her father, which caused a significant stir last week, she has been maintaining a calculated silence while holding meetings with members of her NGO and cultural organization, 'Telangana Jagruthi'.
On Monday, BRS Rajya Sabha member D Damodar Rao and another leader, Mohan Rao, who are also relatives of KCR, met Kavitha and held discussions. Though what transpired between them has not come to light, she reportedly spoke to her father KCR over the phone.
It is learnt that she has been seeking solid assurance from her father about her role in the party. Currently, Kavitha's brother KTR, her cousins T Harish Rao and Santosh Kumar call the shots in the party, and there has been growing discontent within Kavitha that she is not being given due prominence.
Over recent days, Kavitha has been organising her own programmes under the slogan 'Samajika Telangana', with notably sparse attendance from BRS cadres and leaders. Following her release on bail from jail, Kavitha has been attempting to reposition herself in Telangana's political landscape and within the BRS, while her brother KTR has already cemented his position in the party founded by their father. Kavitha had spent over five months in Tihar jail for her alleged role in the Delhi liquor scam.
Her confidential letter to KCR after the party's silver jubilee celebrations in Hanamkonda on April 27 leaked last Thursday while she was in the US, sparking a political storm. She was also miffed with KTR's response to her remarks after her return from the US, equating her with any other party leader.
On Wednesday, Kavitha brushed aside reports that she is joining Congress and holding talks with the central leadership of the grand old party. To add credence to her denial, she also criticised the Congress government in Telangana over a leaked audio tape in which a district official allegedly asked students of a government gurukul school to clean toilets.
“Congress government’s anti-poor attitude is reflected in this shocking behaviour by an official at Social Welfare Gurukul Society. The evidence of which is available in the audio clip. Each social welfare school was granted Rs 40,000 per month during the BRS rule for hiring four temporary workers for cleaning tasks. This has been stopped by Congress government since August last year. The government has also done away with having assistant caretakers in the 240 schools, forcing the students to take up the role of wardens and manage kitchens,” Kavitha said.
She added that now the officer is forcing children to clean toilets in schools. “The statement goes against the very concept of establishing Gurukuls to protect students from marginalised communities from caste and class bias. This behaviour is discriminatory, exploitative, and violates basic principles of child rights and dignity. It only reflects Revanth Reddy government’s anti poor, anti Dalit attitude. I demand the government to immediately take steps to remove the officer and start giving the required funds to run the social welfare schools properly,” Kavitha said.