Hyderabad: A short three-sentence letter from Dr Kadiam Kavya to BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao, who picked her as the candidate for Warangal seat for the Lok Sabha polls, is learnt to have led to some serious discomfort in the party which is facing multiple challenges in terms of investigations into the way it ruled Telangana state, several cases of corruption and excesses.
Dr Kavya, in her brief letter released to the media on Thursday night, had announced her decision to withdraw as the BRS nominee from Warangal. While this in itself was a shocker, particularly after her father Kadiam Srihari, senior party leader and MLA from Station Ghanpur worked hard to get her the nomination, what really has become a matter of concern for the party were the reasons she mentioned for her decision.
In her letter, Dr Kavya said the series of scandals and allegations that have come to light against the BRS leadership in the recent past had caused serious damage to the party image and standing. She even listed the Delhi liquor scam — the case in which Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha, BRS MLC, has been arrested by ED — as one of the reasons for the BRS losing its prestige and appeal among the people.
In addition, she said, the cases of corruption against BRS leaders, land grabbing by some of them, as well as the phone tapping case, prompted her decision.
Dr Kavya’s accusations, according to party sources, could well result in these issues gaining traction with the Congress and BJP latching on to how a Chandrashekar Rao’s handpicked candidate punched holes through an already weakened defence.
“There is some worry that this would have some other candidates rethink their position about the Lok Sabha elections, or even worse, make them shy away from aggressive campaigning. Either way, the letter has already done some damage to the party,” a senior party leader said.
