Tale of two sisters: Sharmila, Kavitha chart independent courses amid family feud

Hyderabad: Barely three months after she described her father, BRS president and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), as the "God" surrounded by "demons," the party suspended K Kavitha for alleged anti-party activities, prompting her to quit the organisation.

The Telangana women leader's case is comparable to that of YS Sharmila, sister of former Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and chief of YSRCP who revolted against her brother following property disputes.

She later floated her own party in Telangana (YSRTP), but could not sustain and merged it with the Congress. She went on to become APCC president.

Though Kavitha did not reveal her plan of action, the focus of her comments was clearly against the BRS and its leaders.

Reacting to the Congress government announcing a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project, built during the previous BRS regime, Kavitha on September 1 said some who are close to KCR have benefited in many ways by making use of his name and he was getting defamed because of their "misdeeds".

She had alleged that cousins Harish Rao and Santosh Kumar were responsible for KCR getting the taint of corruption in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project issue.

Through her critical comments about her brother Jagan, Sharmila provided much-needed ammunition to the opposition during last year’s general and Assembly polls, which saw the YSRCP suffer a rout.

Though Congress under her leadership in AP could not win any seats, her campaign considerably damaged Reddy's reputation giving an edge to the TDP-led NDA.

Though Kavitha did not attack her brother and BRS Working President K T Rama Rao directly, she blamed him for not appropriately responding when a malicious campaign was unleashed against her on social media by some party sympathizers.

Senior journalist and political analyst Telakapalli Ravi said Kavitha's exit from BRS would certainly be an inconvenient and negative factor for the party though she may not be a game changer.

He further said in several regional parties, women are either promoted or kept on the backseat depending on the situations.

"It is inevitable that she is compared with Sharmila...these kinds of issues we keep seeing in regional parties," he told PTI.

Ravi further said Kavith who had earlier started her struggle against BJP alleging that the saffron party was the reason for her arrest in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case, was now silent on the saffron party.

When contacted, TPCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud told PTI that Kavitha's issue totally pertains to KCR's family feud and Congress has nothing to do with it.

Telangana Congress sources said even if Kavitha approaches Congress her entry is not possible as the party wants to distance itself from KCR and his family.

As regards Jagan Reddy, in a recent development, the NCLT Hyderabad bench had cancelled the transfer of shares held by him and his wife Bharathi in Saraswati Power and Industries in the names of his sister YS Sharmila and mother Vijayamma.

Jagan alleged that his sister had illegally transferred the shares and therefore approached the tribunal to annul the move.