The long-simmering internal rift within the first family of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) came out in the open recently through a “leaked” letter written by party MLC K Kavitha, leaving workers and leaders divided and searching for answers.
Even as some BRS leaders said only the four members of the Kalvakuntla family – K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), Kavitha, BRS working president K T Rama Rao (KTR) and KCR’s nephew T Harish Rao – would know the real reason behind the letter getting “leaked”, a few others that The Indian Express spoke to said they had been asked by the party to refrain from commenting on the issue.
In the May 2 letter, addressed to her father and BRS supremo KCR, Kavitha said she wished he had “spoken more about the BJP” in the party’s plenary on April 27 in Hanamkonda. “Daddy, you spoke about the BJP only for two minutes and this has led to speculation that you are planning to ally with them in the future. Personally, maybe because I suffered, I wish you should have targeted the BJP more,” the letter read.
Kavitha’s reference to her suffering dates back to March last year, when she was arrested first by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and then the CBI in connection with the alleged Delhi excise scam and spent five months in jail before being granted bail.
While both KTR and Harish Rao had rushed to be by Kavitha’s side when she was arrested, she had to face the media. “Ultimately, the weight of her arrest fell on her shoulders,” the source added.
“The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was responsible for her imprisonment. Upon her release, she had vowed to return the favour with interest. It would have pained her to see that her father did not attack the BJP at the gathering with lakhs of people,” a source within the BRS said.
Another “grouse” that Kavitha pointed towards was KCR’s “inaccessibility”, especially after the party suffered a drubbing at the hands of the Congress in the 2023 Assembly elections. “KCR’s inaccessibility led to speculation that he would merge the party with the BJP. Kavitha was only right in pointing this out in her letter,” the source added.
A BRS leader said Kavitha was also right in asking why the BRS chief had not spoken on pressing issues like the Waqf (Amendment) Act, reservation for Backward Classes and the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes (SCs). “He did not need to centre his entire address on the party’s glory days. What was needed was to put forth a plan to rejuvenate the cadre, which Kavitha referred to.”
To others, the letter also hinted that the strained relationship between Kavitha and KTR, as power struggles wage in the wake of KCR’s poor health. On the face of it, KTR dismissed any concerns regarding the letter, saying: “What was wrong in writing it?”
Another source, however, said the BRS would suffer if the party gets pulled between the two siblings. “There is only one BRS and one leader, KCR. The siblings need to sort out their differences before staking claim to his legacy,” the source said.
Since her defeat to the BJP’s D Arvind in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Kavitha – who was once seen to be the party’s national face – has been feeling sidelined in the party, even as her brother has grown to be accepted as the de facto heir apparent to KCR. “Kavitha thinks that KTR is taking most of the credit for keeping the BRS flock together,” a source said, while adding that KTR himself is careful not to show any animosity with his sister.
For Kavitha, the letter serves not only to put her concerns across but could also help present her as a voice that can’t be ignored within the party. A BRS source said that the party may do well to heed her, pointing to her family name as well as her standing “as a woman leader”.
