The CBI Special Court’s recent dismissal of the Delhi liquor case has further widened the gap between the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leadership and the party chief’s daughter and estranged leader, Kalvakuntla Kavitha. The court took strong exception to the manner in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) built the case, relying mostly on the statements of accused-turned-approvers. The verdict has given a major boost to the Aam Aadmi Party, which had maintained its innocence from the beginning. The party stood firmly by its leaders throughout the case and declared itself vindicated after the judgment.
Following the verdict, Kavitha came out all guns blazing against the BRS leadership, alleging that the party had failed to extend similar support to her. While BRS leaders tried to counter her narrative—that the negative publicity over her alleged role in the “liquor scam” hurt the party’s chances of returning to power—Kavitha argued that allegations of corruption in the Kaleshwaram project and the party’s failure to fulfil its promises were the real reasons behind the defeat.
Differences between Kavitha and BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao, her brother, and senior leader T. Harish Rao, her cousin, emerged after the party lost power in Telangana in December 2023. The strain deepened while Kavitha was facing investigation and arrest in the Delhi liquor policy case, with her supporters feeling the party had not defended her strongly enough. Tensions intensified after her release from prison on bail. A private letter she wrote to party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao criticising the party’s functioning was leaked, and her subsequent remarks about senior leaders were seen as anti-party activity, eventually leading to her suspension and resignation from the party.
C. Vanaja, a Hyderabad-based senior journalist, felt that the BRS response was ineffective, saying Kavitha was hounded by the media while her father, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, brother, K. T. Rama Rao, and cousin, T. Harish Rao, maintained a defensive posture. “Though the party had extended legal help, their defensive stance failed to protect Kavitha from the media trial. Unlike the other 22 accused, she was singled out for attacks. The media called her names such as ‘Liquor Rani’, largely because she was a woman. KCR should have gone on the offensive for his daughter,” Vanaja held.
The journalist said that political parties have often tried to keep strong women scions away from leadership succession. “That is why she was made an MP and sent to Delhi, as per the established pattern in Indian political parties. Although I am not clear on exactly what caused and deepened the intra-family rift, I feel she was not supported enough,” she added.
BRS MLC and spokesperson Dasoju Sravan Kumar commented on Kavitha’s line of attack. “BRS stood with her throughout the episode. Party chief Chandrasekhar Rao declared that the case was totally fabricated and his daughter would come out clean from these accusations. Party working president K.T. Rama Rao was with her during the CBI’s arrest as well as when she secured the bail. It was a legal battle, not a street fight to show your emotions,” he said.
Another BRS leader, who did not want to be named, pointed to Kavitha’s own comments that she had opposed her father’s proposal to merge the BRS with the BJP to secure her release. “Kavitha herself said this, and it showed that the party was ready to go to any extent for her release,” he remarked. D. Papa Rao, a senior political commentator, believes Kavitha’s objections regarding the Delhi liquor case were part of a broader feud with her brother and father. “I believe she has larger problems with the family, and this is one of the problems she is highlighting,” he opined.
Despite months-long public altercations among the members of the BRS's leading family, concrete details about their specific differences have not emerged. If media reports are to be believed, Kavitha is planning to start a new political party in April. While the Congress accuses her of acting as a BRS agent to divide anti-BRS votes, the BRS sees her as “a prop” of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, seeking to split the BRS's traditional vote.
Kavitha claimed success in the recent municipal polls by winning the Vaddepalli municipality in Jogulamba Gadwal district. Her followers contested on All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) tickets and won eight of the 10 municipal wards. However, it remains unclear whether the victory belongs to her. The Forward Bloc supported the Congress across Telangana and helped it win a few urban bodies. In Vaddepalli, too, the ward members declared their support for the Congress, reportedly in support of the development of their town. When contacted, AIFB national secretary G.