BRS to take Kavitha issue to Delhi

Hyderabad: The BRS government, led by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, will not take things lightly if party MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha is arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi liquor scam case, with the BRS leadership planning to spearhead state-wide agitations as well as take up the issue in the national capital against the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre.

Following the ED's summons to Kavitha for her alleged role in the Delhi liquor scam, Rao discussed the issue with his daughter and senior party leaders for nearly three hours on Wednesday at Pragathi Bhavan, the CM's official residence, party insiders said.  Following her meeting with the CM, Kavitha reportedly wrote to the ED requesting that her appearance be rescheduled for March 15, citing "prior engagements" such as leading Bharat Jagruthi's dharna in New Delhi on March 10 at Jantar Mantar demanding the introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.

Kavitha has been emphatically maintaining that the BJP government is after KCR, not her, and that she was framed in the liquor case. Further, it is learnt that Kavitha's issue could figure prominently at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for March 9 at the Pragathi Bhavan.

In a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Sunday, Rao along with CMs of non-BJP-ruled states, and leaders of various opposition parties, including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Tejashwi Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, and others, denounced the arrest of Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia by the CM in the Delhi liquor scam and accused the PM of misusing central investigating agencies in order to target and weaken the opposition parties.

Kavitha's name first surfaced in the Delhi liquor scam in August 2022, when two Delhi BJP leaders, MP Parvesh Varma and former MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, alleged her involvement in the scam. In December 2022, Kavitha's name figured in the ED chargesheet in the liquor scam for the first time, and the CBI issued summons and questioned Kavitha for the first time in the liquor scam. Since then, the BRS leadership has accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of targeting Rao for denouncing the BJP government's wrongdoings and for entering national politics by launching the BRS to take on the BJP government in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The BRS leadership maintained that the central investigating agencies had framed Kavitha in the Delhi liquor scam case to target KCR and the BRS in accordance with the BJP government's directives. The CM, ministers, party MLAs, MLCs, MPs, and all other leaders have maintained that the BJP government was misusing the CBI, ED, and I-T to target the non-BJP ruled state governments.