Amid BRS family feud, Kavitha's Hyderabad rail roko call sets up a litmus test

Indian Express

5 hours ago

K Kavitha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and daughter of Telangana's former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, is set to face a political litmus test on July 17.
Amid an unabating feud with her brother and the party's working president, K T Rama Rao, Kavitha has called a rail roko in Hyderabad on that day to demand the implementation of 42% reservation for Backward Classes (BC) in local body elections.
She has a formidable ally in BC leader R Krishnaiah, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP. Sources close to Krishnaiah said, 'K Kavitha was the first to reach out from her party to seek a meeting. She convinced (Krishnaiah) to give her a listen even though they are from two different parties.'
Kavitha is learnt to have reminded Krishnaiah of the support he gave the BRS during the agitation for Telangana's statehood.
Sources close to Kavitha said she is of the opinion that the BRS should regain its stature as a party that starts an agitation whenever there is a need for it. Her brother, widely known as KTR, however, prefers to be in 'governance mode', the sources said.
In a media briefing earlier this month, Kavitha had said, 'Isn't BC reservation a matter that the BRS leadership is concerned with? From Telangana Jagruthi, we plan to take up agitation for the BCs.'
While Kavitha has won part of the battle with Krishnaiah's support, her stature in Telangana politics will be defined by the success of her rail roko call, which brings up memories of the agitation that the BRS, led by her father KCR, had taken up for the cause of a Telangana state between 2009 and 2014.
During this time, the BRS was known as a party born of a people's movement. 'We hope Kavitha can resurrect a similar sentiment among people. She is focusing on a major voting bloc, the Backward Classes,' said a leader close to her. According to a survey conducted by the state government, BCs account for at least 56% of Telangana's population.
However, 42% reservation for the BC would breach the 50% reservation cap set by the Supreme Court and would need the Centre's nod for implementation. The Congress government in Telangana, under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, had passed a Bill recommending implementation of 42% reservation for BCs in education, employment and local body elections in the state. While this Bill got the assent of the Governor, it is pending approval at the President's office.
BRS's protest is therefore a nudge to the Centre to implement 42% BC reservations, sources close to Kavitha said. 'Other than passing the Bill and visiting Delhi to meet the Congress High Command, Revanth Reddy has not done much to convince the Centre to allow the breach of the 50% reservation cap,' a BRS source said.
The rail roko will also bring to the fore the leaders who support Kavitha. 'Clearly, there is a division in the BRS leadership from the top. We need to see how many leaders of the BRS come out in support of the rail roko and how many want to work with Kavitha on the ground,' a BRS leader said.