Kalvakuntla Kavitha, a lawmaker for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), vowed on Thursday to work with investigation agencies even as she denounced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government for leaking her name in a court filing regarding the investigation into alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy to the media. According to her, this was done to damage her reputation.
According to statements made by businessman Amit Arora, who was detained this week in connection with the case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed on Wednesday that Kavitha was a key member of the “South Group,” which is accused of paying at least $100 million in kickbacks to members of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) through another arrested businessman Vijay Nair.
Kavitha, who is Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao or KCR’s daughter, said she was not afraid of being arrested as long as the people of the state are with her. “What can they do? At the most, they will arrest me and send me to jail. But as long as the people are with the TRS, we do not have to worry about such arrests or allegations. The TRS shall continue to work for the people of the state as well as the country and fight against the BJP.”
In response to the TRS administration’s action over the BJP’s alleged attempts to overthrow the Telangana government by poaching the ruling party’s lawmakers, Kavitha said the ED highlighted her name in Arora’s remand report.
“In the last eight years, the Narendra Modi government has toppled democratically-elected governments in as many as nine states by misusing the Central agencies like the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation], ED, and the Income Tax Department. But their nefarious designs did not work in a politically conscious Telangana. Even a small kid in Telangana is now aware that the BJP tried to destabilise the KCR government.”
As part of his ambitions for national growth ahead of the national elections in 2024, KCR renamed TRS as Bharat Rashtra Samithi in October. Since then, he has been mobilising regional parties against the BJP.
Kavitha said it has become a routine practice for the BJP to target the states where it is not in power by misusing the central agencies and damaging the reputation of its political opponents during the elections. “In any state where elections are scheduled, the ED reaches first before Modi arrives there. As Telangana is about to face elections in December next year, the ED has arrived in Telangana. It is a routine strategy and a cheap political gimmick by the BJP. We do not have to worry about such tactics.”
After turning over the investigation into the liquor policy case to the agency, the ED informed a Delhi court on Wednesday that Kavitha had altered her phone’s International Mobile Equipment Identity six times. It submitted the document while asking for Arora’s judicial remand.
The ED cited a data analysis and stated that it discovered digital evidence had been destroyed in order to impede the investigation. It made reference to its investigation and claimed that Nair accepted payments from the “South Group” on behalf of AAP officials. According to ED, Kavitha was one among those in charge of the group.
According to the ED, significant digital evidence was deleted in order to thwart the inquiry. After the case was turned over to the agency, it added 36 suspects and accused in the case, including Kavitha, and destroyed 176 cell phones and laptops.