Long road ahead as Kavitha fights for a foothold

Nida Mehraj

With about 30 months to the expected 2028 Assembly polls in Telangana, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of former Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, is testing her strength on the ground through Telangana Jagruthi after quitting her father’s Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) in 2025.

Telangana Jagruthi is not a registered party, yet, and has not contested the February municipal polls. Kavitha, however, has been on a “Janam Bata” state tour, spending two days in each district to reconnect with the public, especially women. Organisers say that her tour has covered 19 of Telangana’s 33 districts already.

In an interview with Osmania Courier recently, Telangana Jagruthi general secretary Naveen Achary claimed their pressure has already forced rivals, especially the BRS, to change their public posture.

“First, the points raised by Kavita garu, no one from the BRS party had given a voice. We spoke about Kaleshwaram and telephone tapping case. Those people have not addressed even a single major issue till now,” said Mr. Achary.

He also described what he called a “visible shift in access and availability” as their impact. “They [BRS leaders] started meeting people and going into the public when we started meeting people,” he said.

The general secretary said the background work on registering the party was going on and that they have 50 internal committees to study different sectors and communities. He also explained that they were not formally in the fray in the municipal elections but some of their cadre have entered the poll with the symbol of All India Forward Bloc wherever possible.

Osmania University political science Professor V. Srilatha said she saw Kavitha’s move as opening up a new political option, in addition to the Congress, BRS, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“I think a new party is a good idea because it would bring up new player in the state. She may not immediately come to power, but she can emerge as a decisive factor with a small political chunk of her own,” she said.

Political analyst Prof. K. Nageshwar said that at this stage, Kavitha’s political initiative is unlikely to produce visible shifts in the state’s power balance.
“So far, there is no clear impact because the party has not been formally launched and does not yet have a name or manifesto,” Prof. Nageshwar said, noting that no prominent leaders from the BRS or other major parties have joined her so far.

He added that alliances and real political consequences typically emerge closer to elections. “The next Assembly elections are in 2028, so it is too early to assess the party’s actual influence,” Nageshwar said.