KCR is My Father Only At Home, Not in Party

While acknowledging that all her family members are in politics, Kavitha Kalvakuntla dismisses the notion that the TRS is a “family-run” party. She claims that it’s her work during the Telangana movement that had fetched her a party ticket to contest from the Nizamabad parliamentary constituency. Her way of drumming up support for her candidature in the district is simple: “This is our Telangana, let’s vote for our own party (TRS)”.

She is confident of making a successful debut in electoral politics while taking on two- time MP Madhu Yashki Goud of the Congress and Yendala Laxminarayana of the BJP, who is extensively banking on the Modi wave. As the polls draw closer, Nizamabad’s daughter-in-law (as she describes herself) is criss-crossing the constituency with her supporters and talks to Express about her plans for the backward district.

Excerpts from the interview

What made you plunge into electoral politics while you are already heading a cultural organisation ‘Telangana Jagruthi’ which claims to bring cultural renaissance?

Politics and being in public are not different. I have been involved with the Telangana movement and established the Telangana Jagruthi seven years ago to support poor people in education, health and empower women. The movement was not just about the resurgence of Telangana culture. Politics, in fact, allows people to stand up for their issues and concerns more effectively. It also allows taking up development activities in a systematic manner. This is the reason for me to enter politics.

Don’t you think KCR’s silence over making a Dalit the first chief minister of Telangana and giving tickets to all his family members is sending out a bad signal?

TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao has never gone back on his promises before and will not renege on his promises in the future. As for the Dalit chief minister issue, KCR never officially stated that he is going back on his promise. He will speak on the issue when the time comes. I cannot deny the fact that all our family members are in politics, but TRS is not a family run party because all of us had worked as karyakartaks and participated in the movement. Though KCR is my father, he is my father at home, not in the organisational hierarchy. He is our leader under whom we worked for the cause of Telangana and now will make our best efforts for its development.

Actor Pawan Kalyan alleges that you, under the banner of Telangana Jagruthi, extort money from people and Congress leaders term TRS as an outfit concerned with fleecing money from the public. What do you have to say to these allegations?

When someone does not have a constructive point to make, they employ such tactics to get publicity. The Congress is known for its blame game and they pass personal remarks. In fact, during the Telangana movement too, KCR has been targeted personally for his language, food and culture. But nothing deterred the party from putting up a fight for achieving Telangana State.

What are your chances of winning as you have formidable opponents in the form of two-time MP Madhu Yashki Goud and Yendala Laxminarayana who is encashing the Modi phenomenon?

First of all there is no Modi wave in reality, it is only projected in the media. The BJP does not have any organisational structure and support in the Telangana region and people know who actually fought for Telangana. In fact, by allying with Chandrababu Naidu, the BJP had deceived people of Telangana in 1999 by reneging on its promise of granting statehood to the region. Madhu Yashki, in spite of being in power for 10 years, has not even visited the constituency 10 times. He just won on the Congress plank. I am confident that my winning here is inevitable.

Since Nizamabad is a backward district and with numerous problems plaguing it, what do you intend to do if you make it to Parliament in the election?

I was the first one to release a separate manifesto for the development of the district. Though, farmers here grow about 16 per cent of the total turmeric produced in the world, there is no turmeric board in the district. I will first write a letter to the Central government highlighting the importance of establishing a turmeric board here.

Then, I will concentrate on developing railway networks in the district that were taken up years ago but stopped mid-way. The district is endowed with two rivers—Godavari and Manjeera—that irrigate 4.5 lakh acres. I wish to increase the total cultivable land in the district to 10 lakh acres. Besides, measures will be taken to develop minor irrigation projects—Nizam Sagar and Sriram Sagar.

Source: New Indian Express