'Cheap trick', says KCR’s daughter Kavitha as ED names her in liquor scam

Daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha has warned the BJP that any attempt to win elections through the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will not fructify in the state.

Reacting sharply to the inclusion of her name in the remand report filed in a local court by the ED in the Delhi liquor scam case, Kavitha on Thursday morning said she was ready to answer ED’s questions and even to go to jail. But leaking the information to the media was a cheap trick to defame her, she claimed.

“The ED has made it a habit of leaking documents to the media. What more can they do than sending me to jail?” she asserted.

“ED raids routine before PM visits”

Kavitha spoke to the media at her home on Thursday morning, as many of her supporters arrived to express solidarity. She said ED raids had become a routine affair before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits.

Also read: Telangana: How TRS, BJP deploy govt agencies in political power play

“The people of Telangana need not take it seriously. These raids are being conducted with an eye on next year’s Assembly elections,” she said.

According to Kavitha, the BJP was using central agencies as a reaction to the state government’s thwarting of the saffron party’s attempts to topple KCR’s government.

BJP reacts

Kavitha’s early-morning reaction elicited a quick response from the BJP. MLA Eatala Rajender said KCR’s family had “extended its arms to loot the Delhi government, as if Telangana was not enough.”

BJP’s national vice-president DK Aruna remarked that Kavitha should not get unduly disturbed if she played no role in the liquor scam.

Also read: ‘Target KCR’ is BJP’s by-poll strategy in Telangana, not polarisation

This is for the first time that the CM’s daughter’s name has officially figured in a document submitted by the ED to court, seeking remand of the key accused Amit Arora, who was arrested and produced in court on Wednesday. The ED sought Arora’s custody for further investigation.

Phone changed six times: Report

The 32-page remand report also named YSRC MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghavendra Reddy, apart from Kalvakuntal Kavitha.

According to the report, Kavitha was a member of “South Group,” she changed her mobile number six times, and the devices were destroyed. Stating that the ED got the call data of these phones through International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), the central agency alleged that these mobiles were destroyed to prevent an investigation into their role in the scam.

Also read: How YS Sharmila has emerged as a serious player in Telangana politics

Till Wednesday, Kavitha’s name was linked to the liquor scam only in BJP and TRS’s charges and counter-charges. Since the ED has, for the first time, produced concrete evidence pointing to her connection to the scam, the political heat in the state is expected to rise in the next few days.

More evidence against Santosh

Around the time when the ED filed the remand report in Delhi High Court, the SIT appointed by Chief Minister KCR’s government to probe the role of national BJP leaders in TRS MLAs’ bribing case presented more evidence on the role of BJP general-secretary BL Santosh and other accused. Supreme Court senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the SIT, presented the evidence in High Court.

In another development, the CBI has summoned state Civil Supplies and BC Welfare Minister Gangula Kamalakar to appear before the agency on Thursday. The CBI recently raided the residential premises of the minister in connection with alleged FEMA violations by his granite export firm in Karimnagar.

There is also an impersonation charge against the minister, who is allegedly associated with a fake IPS officer, Kovvireddy Srnivas. Srinivas was arrested for alleged impersonation on November 28.