K Kavitha resigned as MLC a day after BRS suspended her, accusing cousins T Harish Rao and J Santosh Kumar of harming KCR and the party amid a CBI-bound Kaleshwaram probe. BJP and Congress moved quickly to exploit the fallout.
Telangana Jagruthi chief K Kavitha on Wednesday resigned as Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) to the Council Speaker. Her move came a day after the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) suspended her for ‘anti-party activities’. The suspension was approved by party chief and her father, K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), after she publicly accused senior BRS leaders, including her cousin T Harish Rao and former MP J Santosh Kumar, of working against KCR and the party.
Why the BRS suspended her
On Tuesday, the BRS announced the suspension through a post on X, saying her ‘recent behaviour and ongoing anti-party activities’ were damaging the party. The action followed a series of sharp public statements by Kavitha. She had linked two senior leaders Harish Rao and Santosh to alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) and accused them of plotting against KCR and herself.
Kavitha’s message to family and cadre
While quitting, Kavitha struck an emotional note. Addressing her brother and BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR), she said, “I urge Ram Anna to take care of KCR’s health and the party karyakartas.” In a press conference, she called KCR her ‘inspiration’, praising his welfare push for Dalits and backward classes and asking, ‘Isn’t ‘Bangaru Telangana’ about the welfare of all sections of society?”
The charges she levelled against Harish Rao
Kavitha questioned the source of Harish Rao’s funds. She alleged he influenced MLAs with money, engineered moves against senior leaders like Eatala Rajender, Mynampally Hanumantha Rao and Vijayashanti, and played a role in alleged corruption tied to Kaleshwaram. She also attacked his public image, saying he was “not a troubleshooter but a ‘bubble shooter’,” and claimed he “gave money” to work against KCR and KTR in the Assembly elections. She further alleged that when the Kaleshwaram project began, Harish Rao was Irrigation Minister, and that the “taint” now attached to KCR on Kaleshwaram was due to Harish Rao and Santosh Rao’s actions.
The charges she levelled against J Santosh Kumar
Kavitha accused Santosh of using the state’s Haritha Haram programme for “personal image-building,” misleading celebrities through the “Green Challenge,” and being linked to large villa projects in Mokila. She also held him responsible for a sand lorry accident case in Sirisilla, alleging that seven youngsters were subjected to police torture in its aftermath.
The CBI probe backdrop: why Kaleshwaram is at the core
The Telangana government has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, one of the state’s biggest and most controversial infrastructure works. A commission led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose has been constituted to look into alleged misuse of funds and corruption related to the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages. Kavitha has argued that KCR will “emerge spotless, like a pearl washed clean,” from the probe. At the same time, she said the “taint” attached to KCR over Kaleshwaram is because of Harish Rao and Santosh Rao. She alleged they conspired against her and KCR and that Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is “behind” them.
‘I am not a puppet’: Kavitha’s defence of her actions
Kavitha said she has worked for BRS and public causes since her release from jail, citing campaigns for BC reservations and programmes against the Congress government. “I am not a puppet to play to the tunes of the BJP or the Congress,” she said. She insisted that her comments were driven by loyalty to KCR and by concern over people she believes are harming him and the party. She had earlier accused party insiders of plotting her removal as honorary president of the Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS), calling that decision politically motivated. She also blamed senior leaders for attaching a “corruption tag” to KCR and for weakening the party from within.
Kavitha warned her father and brother that Harish Rao and Santosh are “people who wish you harm,” and urged that only by sidelining them could the party survive. “Don’t become a sacrifice to these conspiracies,” she said. She added that she had already raised these concerns with KTR and asked him to act against those “plotting” in the party.
From suspension to resignation: The timeline
September 1: After the state ordered a CBI probe into Kaleshwaram, Kavitha alleged that any “taint” on KCR’s image was due to Harish Rao and Santosh and accused them of conspiring against her and KCR.
September 2: BRS suspended Kavitha for “anti-party activities.”
September 3: Kavitha announced she is resigning from the BRS and submitted her MLC resignation letter to the Council Speaker.
Party voices for and against K Kavitha
BRS MLA Satyavathi Rathod supported the party’s decision, saying KCR acted for the party’s future. She said Kavitha’s remarks seemed to support the Congress government’s move to hand over the Justice PC Ghose Commission report on Kaleshwaram to the CBI, which, in her view, justified the suspension. On the other side, Telangana Jagruthi workers and Kavitha’s supporters held a symbolic protest at the Telugu Jagruthi headquarters in Hyderabad, targeting Harish Rao and Santosh Rao. Telangana Jagruthi leader Varalakshmi defended Kavitha, saying her remarks came from her emotions ‘as a daughter of a fighter’, and announced Kavitha would detail her next steps at a media briefing.
The BJP’s reaction
The state BJP unit mocked the suspension as a ‘carefully scripted melodrama’. Party spokesperson NV Subash called it a family spat that has turned into a ‘political tamasha’, alleging that after Congress came to power under Revanth Reddy, the ‘script changed’. BJP leader Boora Narsaiah Goud said Kavitha’s allegations prove ‘vast corruption’ during the BRS regime. He also attacked the Congress, claiming that if the BJP comes to power in Telangana it will investigate alleged corrupt deals involving Congress leaders, MLAs and ministers. These comments show that Kavitha’s fallout is already being used by rivals to target both BRS and Congress, keeping the Kaleshwaram issue and wider corruption charges at the centre of Telangana’s political fight.
Kaleshwaram project: What is under the scanner
The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project was billed as a game-changer for Telangana’s irrigation and drinking water needs. Over time, it has faced questions about cost, design, contracting and quality. Failures and structural issues reported at parts of the project, especially around the Medigadda barrage, sharpened scrutiny. With the Justice PC Ghose Commission in place and the case now handed to the CBI, the probe will look at alleged irregularities, misuse of funds and corruption in design, construction and awarding of contracts. The political stakes are high because Kaleshwaram was a flagship project under the BRS government led by KCR.
Kavitha on Kaleshwaram project probe
Kavitha maintains that the CBI investigation will clear KCR. She said, “KCR will emerge spotless, like a pearl washed clean.” She argues that those blaming KCR are ignoring the role of others who held key posts when the project began. She insists that Kaleshwaram will be remembered as a landmark project for 200 years, and that ‘false accusations’ have been levelled at KCR.
The Haritha Haram and ‘Green Challenge’ charge
Beyond Kaleshwaram, Kavitha accused Santosh of using the state’s Haritha Haram tree-planting drive to build his personal image. She claimed celebrities were misled through the social-media-driven ‘Green Challenge’ and linked him to large villa projects in Mokila. She also blamed him for the aftermath of a sand lorry accident in Sirisilla, alleging police tortured seven youngsters.
Kavitha is not a peripheral figure. Kavitha is daughter of K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) – a former chief minister and the party president. Her very public break with the party and her open attack on two leaders close to KCR show deep internal rifts. Harish Rao, in particular, has been with the party since its early days and is widely seen as an organiser with strong grassroots links. A feud involving him, Santosh and Kavitha is not easy to manage, especially with BRS in opposition in Telangana. The episode could weaken cadre morale and confuse voters about the party’s direction. Rivals will try to use these divisions to their advantage, as seen in the quick BJP response. Congress, which ordered the CBI probe, will also use the Kaleshwaram issue to keep BRS on the defensive.
The Congress angle
Kavitha claims Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is part of a plan with her rivals to ‘destroy’ her family and the party. The Congress government’s move to send the commission’s report to the CBI is central to this tussle. Congress will argue it is simply following through on accountability and investigating a project with serious questions. BRS will argue the probe is political. Kavitha is trying to separate KCR from the project’s alleged failures while blaming others, including her cousins and the current CM.
Where KTR stands in Kavitha’s telling
Kavitha said she had discussed the ‘plotting’ with KTR earlier and asked him to act. Her appeal today, asking him to look after KCR’s health and the party workers, positions her as a loyalist concerned about KCR and cadre even as she exits the party fold. How KTR responds, both publicly and within the party, will be closely watched. If he backs KCR’s decision fully and stays quiet on the charges against Harish Rao and Santosh, it could signal an internal closing of ranks against Kavitha. If he engages with the substance of her claims, the rift could deepen.
Kavitha’s suspension and resignation are more than a family dispute. They open a window into a party wrestling with accountability questions around a mega project, leadership tensions and the demands of rebuilding in opposition. For voters, the core questions remain simple: Was Kaleshwaram planned and built properly? Who is responsible for any failures and cost overruns? Can BRS offer a clear, united alternative to the Congress government? And where does the BJP fit in as it pushes a corruption-focused line against both sides? The answers will emerge from investigations, courtrooms and the ballot box, but for now, the BRS faces one of its most serious internal tests since statehood, with one of its most prominent faces stepping out and firing serious charges at leaders still inside.