The dramatic arrest of K Kavitha, the BRS leader and former Telangana Chief Minister KCR’s daughter on Friday in connection with the liquor policy scam case has sparked a flurry of political reactions and turned out to become a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
The timing of this arrest, which comes just a day before the Lok Sabha Polls schedule announcement, raises several pertinent questions that are bound to have far-reaching implications for the political landscape of Telangana.
Interestingly, the arrest took place on the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a campaign trail to garner votes for his third term, was in Hyderabad for a massive political rally and roadshow.
Indeed, Kavitha’s arrest has generated a fresh wave of pressure on the already beleaguered BRS, grappling with a lack of public support and defections. Political experts believe it to be a potent opportunity for the BJP to capitalise on the political vacuum left by the BRS.
The BRS leader’s arrest also adds an intriguing layer to Telangana as well as Central politics as the Congress’s accusations of collusion between the BJP and the BRS, citing Kavitha’s conspicuous absence from the list of arrests now stand void.
“It appears that the sequence of events often involves the arrival of the Enforcement Directorate preceding elections. As of now, the voting inclination of the BRS does not seem to be shifting towards the BJP. The arrest, however, could be perceived as a deliberate attempt to rectify this flow of votes,” political expert Errabelly Rajanikanth told TOI.
“During the assembly polls, Revanth Reddy made the audacious claim that the BRS and BJP were colluding. This assertion had a detrimental impact on BRS performance resulting in the departure of minority voters to align with Congress. It seems that Revanth is attempting to employ a similar strategy once more but the arrest seems to potentially prove advantageous for the BJP,” Rajanikanth added.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested BRS leader K Kavitha after an hours-long raid at her premises in Hyderabad and brought her to Delhi for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
The BRS leader entered the agency’s headquarters in central Delhi around midnight and is expected to be produced before a special PMLA court by the ED.
The ED may seek her 10-day custody from the court. Kavitha’s legal team is expected to contest the same as they had called the Friday ED action illegal as her petition for no coercive action in this case is pending before the Supreme Court and is listed for March 19.
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