Kalvakuntla Kavitha at Idea Exchange: ‘I call a spade a spade… that’s why I was unfairly removed from my party’

It is really stressful and painful because I chose public life to fight for Telangana’s statehood and was very passionately and deeply involved in the movement. I worked very hard to make sure that women of Telangana participated in the movement by going around every village. I made sure that Bathukamma, an indigenous festival by women of Telangana, which was neglected when we were part of Andhra Pradesh, was a point of pride where all women could join together and would not be relegated to being second grade citizens.

In general, when a political party calls for women’s participation, they don’t respond very well. But I worked closely with people. In 2014, I contested on a BRS ticket, got elected to Parliament and did my bit. But I lost the following term because of a deep-rooted and well played out conspiracy by most of the people I’m upset with now and the coterie surrounding my father. From that time onwards, I have been constantly requesting the party leadership to look into why we lost and organisational gaps if any. No checks were done. A couple of years later, my leader realised that something was not working properly and said that I needed a post in the district. That’s when I became a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC), which again is an elected post. I am a person who calls a spade a spade. In politics, you’re not supposed to do that. But internally, I did. I tried to tell my father and brother that we need to work towards the promises that we made to the leaders of the Telangana movement and why we need to honour the spirit of Telangana. There were a lot of internal issues which I flagged but then one of my confidential communications to my leader was very tactfully leaked by this coterie. Now I’m forced to continue this discourse in public, which is not right but they left me with no choice. Ultimately, that led to my suspension from the party. I simply had one question, for somebody who has been working with the party through thick and thin, why wasn’t a showcause notice issued to me? I reasoned if the party suspended me the way it did, I would not hold on to its positions. So I resigned as MLC and also from the party membership.

ON THE CASTE SURVEY | The sub-caste is important for sub-categorisation of reservations. The reservation percentage of your job, education, political representation, everything will change

The only thought in my mind when I joined the agitation for statehood in 2006 was simple: Being an educated woman and daughter of KCR himself, I shouldn’t be sitting at home. I did my bit but I believe very strongly that I was unfairly and unceremoniously removed from the party. As for the future, I might get one or two positions either by floating a party or joining another one. But will it lead to the change that I have demanded while being in the BRS? I’m now leading this backward class reservation movement and will work towards social equality in Telangana. I call it the Samajika Telangana movement, where all communities should get an equal share and opportunity in power politics. How will my goals converge with the people’s movement and how can I take it forward is the crossroads that I am at right now. But hopefully, in the next few months, I’ll find a path and walk on it.

Liz Mathew: Tell us how you want to take Telangana Jagruthi forward?

Telangana Jagruthi is a civil society organisation that was formed during the statehood movement. We’ve always spoken about how both the Congress and BJP had been conning the people of Telangana and had put up roadblocks in the formation of the state. So, my organisation has always been political in nature.

For two years, we worked on women’s reservation, holding roundtable conferences and pressurising MPs from various parties to talk about it in both Houses of Parliament. We got support from 18 political parties. This resulted in the women’s reservation bill. We have taken up reservation for OBCs (other backward classes) as they form 52 per cent of the population in Telangana. So, the Congress, before coming to power, had promised to give 42 per cent reservation to OBCs. Telangana Jagruthi was the only organisation in the last two years fighting for this cause. The Congress passed the Bill which is awaiting presidential assent, one that the BJP is holding up.

Hyderabad: Suspended BRS leader K Kavitha addresses a press conference, in Hyderabad, Wednesday, Sept. 03, 2025. (PTI Photo)

Liz Mathew: As we know it, BRS is your father’s party. Yet you have not been receiving any messages or responses from the party. Do you hold your father responsible for your ouster?

When a party comes to power or is about to come to power, there are certain forces that surround your leader, whom we call coterie. I blame this coterie for everything that is going wrong with the BRS. These are forces with vested interests. And my father, having led a movement, has always worked for the welfare of the state. He is beyond these things. Right under the candle, there is a lot of darkness because of the shadow that the candle itself casts. That’s where these evil creatures dwell. That is how the coterie prevailed and I got thrown out.

ON DELIMITATION | Reward performing states, be it for family planning or contributing to GDP. If the representation of the South keeps going down and they have to share money with everyone, resentment will ultimately rise

Liz Mathew: Did your brother support you when you were jailed (for the alleged liquor policy scam in Delhi)?

I have suffered the most. The BJP’s entire vendetta against BRS was continuously and constantly focussed on me. For three years, I was constantly bullied, had to face the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the media. My own party did not rescue me during that time. But when I was jailed, as a family, both my father and brother stood by me, came to jail. After I came out of jail, nobody supported me, including my brother, who is BRS working president. That’s why, I feel, the coterie prevailed.

Kavitha, who quit the party a day after she was suspended for “anti-party activities”, speaks to The Indian Express after her break with the BRS, about her political future.

Liz Mathew: If you take all political families in India, right from Kashmir to Kerala, leaders always prefer sons to carry on their legacy. Is it because of patriarchy?

Hundred per cent. I think this is a story of every household, not only political families. If a sacrifice has to be made, it has to be made by a woman. If money is a constraint, the male child gets educated and the girl child sits at home. So political families are not exempt from that, except maybe in Kerala, where women are given a better space I feel. Even in the case of Supriya Sule (daughter of Sharad Pawar), Ajit Pawar (her cousin) was given a lot more power before her. This is the same story, from the Gandhis to everybody else.

Jatin Anand: As somebody who was part of the Telangana movement, how do you view the differing definitions and nomenclature of September 17, the day when Hyderabad joined the Indian Union in 1948. Do you think this has been politicised?

When the Telangana agitation started in 2001, my father and the movement leader at that point of time, took a very conscious decision. He wanted to call it the Telangana Vilina Divas, which means the integration day of Telangana with India. But the BJP, even back then, wanted to call it Telangana Liberation Day because it believed September 17 was the liberation of Hindu people from a Muslim ruler. We do not accept this ideology. Only in 2022, before the 2023 Assembly elections, the BJP declared September 17 would be celebrated as Telangana Liberation Day and Home Minister Amit Shah attended a programme. I believe this is an infringement of federal rights because as a Central government, you are coming into a state, trying to redefine our history and creating differences among Hindus and Muslims. Would they do that in any other state? Why did the Home Minister attend the ceremony without the involvement of the Chief Minister? Now, to counter the BJP’s narrative, the Congress has come up with a different name. But people of Telangana have always tried to live in peace.

ON WHETHER KCR WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HER OUSTER | My father is beyond these things. Right under the candle, there is a lot of darkness because of the shadow that the candle casts. That’s where these evil creatures dwell. That’s how the coterie prevailed and I got thrown out

Liz Mathew: A few months ago, there were rumours of BRS merging with the BJP. How far is this true?

I have said this already, I will say it again. When I was in jail, I received a proposal on a merger in exchange for my bail. I said, ‘No, the law doesn’t work that way.’ I believe in the justice system. There is no way that a party born out of a statehood movement should be sacrificed for one person’s freedom. After I came out, there was not much discussion on that. That is where I would leave it.

Kalvakuntla Kavitha, former MP and founder of Telangana Jagruthi

Asad Rehman: The Congress has been pitching the Telangana caste survey done by the Revanth Reddy government as a model that can be used for the Central caste census. Do you think this can be a template for the rest of the country?

The Congress is only trying to bank on this caste survey, not only in Bihar but in every other election. When KC Rao Sir had conducted the caste survey right after the formation of Telangana in 2014, the population of OBCs was 52 per cent. Now, after Revanth Reddy’s government conducted the caste survey, the OBC population is 46 per cent. So, there is a six per cent reduction in the OBC population, which is a serious concern. There is a sudden rise in OC (open category) population.

The Congress government has been very opaque on the caste survey and has not placed it in the Assembly as well. For anything to be a model, it has to be very transparent. The Indra Sawhney case verdict (in which the Supreme Court upheld the validity of reservations for OBCs), clearly says there has to be a dedicated commission. If a dedicated commission does the enumeration and after that if the government can prove that there is no proportionate representation of any community, that community can then be given reservations.

Vikas Pathak: You have said you have doubts about the caste survey because of conflicting data. But census exercises in India since 1881 have generally thrown up very authentic data, which are also used by researchers. While almost all parties are on board on the caste survey, is it now a game of one- upmanship as to who is more pro-OBC?

When caste surveys were conducted in Telangana, the enumerators did not go to every house though they are supposed to do so. That is our fundamental objection. When conducting a caste survey, one has to be very careful about noting the sub-caste as well because that’s important for sub-categorisation of reservations. The reservation percentage of your job, your education, your political representation, everything will change. That is why it is not about one-upmanship but about being careful and accurate.

Liz Mathew: Do you think the caste census has the potential to do some good for the OBC community?

It will do some good if we work on the sub-categorisation properly. In Telangana OBCs are 52 per cent but public representatives are very few. You can identify only about four or five caste leaders. The remaining castes never got benefit of any reservations at all, neither in education or employment. So now the fight is to make sure that benefits go to every sub-caste under the OBC umbrella. If the enumeration is correct, then the sub-categorisation can be correct and the benefits can flow seamlessly.

ON ‘VOTE CHORI’ ALLEGATION BY RAHUL GANDHI | If Rahul Gandhi is citing specific examples, it is for the Election Commission to come clean. Rahulji has this history of raising questions and then running away for a holiday. I hope he continues the fight

Liz Mathew: Another major concern for the southern states is delimitation. Your chief minister also spoke about it. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has been raising it very often. Do you see it becoming a major issue?

When it comes to actual political influence, it has always been a tilted floor for the southern politicians compared to their northern counterparts. Very few of us make it to the top in Delhi, considering Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are bigger states. If the representation and the percentage of representation of the south is kept as it is today, only then will southern states have some say. The southern states contribute the highest to the nation’s GDP but what we get in return is very less. Yet we share our wealth with our fellow Indians. That is fairly fine because we are a union of states and as a federal set-up, we should be doing that. But yes, political representation should not be sacrificed and the southern states should get proper representation that is not just based on their population. Their contribution to the GDP should also be taken into consideration.

Vikas Pathak: Ever since the debate began around delimitation, we have seen statements by southern politicians, and even by the RSS chief, that people should have more children. Also, when you say GDP should be taken into account, how will it sit with our general policy where prosperity is not rewarded and poverty gets you subsidy. Even the voting right is not based on your wealth. How do we reconcile these polarities?

The call for population growth is linked to a long-term policy adjustment factor and not a solution. We have seen this call happening in nations like China, which is bearing the brunt of a one-child policy, and Japan, where younger people are not getting married. As a result their geriatric population is more than the young population. All I am saying is reward well-performing states, be it for family planning or contributing to GDP. If the representation of the South keeps going down and yet if they have to share money with everyone else, resentment will ultimately rise.

Asad Rehman: Do you think that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations on ‘vote chori’ will have an electoral impact at some point in the country?

If Rahul Gandhi is citing specific examples, it is for the Election Commission to come clean. When Rahulji spoke about ‘vote chori,’ l could see the resonance even in the last village of Telangana. People said, “This is possible. They must have done it. It is the BJP.”

Also, Rahulji has this history of raising questions and then running away for a holiday. I hope he continues the fight. I hope all other parties continue to do so. The Election Commission’s primary responsibility is to make sure it gives answers and confidence to the people.