The BRS called for State-wide demonstrations on Saturday against the ‘politically-motivated’ arrest of the party MLC K Kavitha by the Enforcement Direcatorate in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. The protests will be organised across all the Assembly constituencies.
Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Friday, BRS senior leader and former Minister T Harish Rao termed Kavitha’s arrest as “undemocratic, unethical and unlawful”. He vowed that the party will fight the case, both legally and politically, to thwart the attempts of anti-BRS forces. He expressed immense faith in the judiciary and stated that a petition will be filed before the Supreme Court against the ED action.
“A woman elected representative has been arrested on a Friday evening clearly knowing that the courts will be closed on Saturday and Sunday. What is the urgent need to arrest Kavitha, three days before the case is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court. This is nothing but an attempt to demoralise our cadre
before the Lok Sabha elections,” he declared.
He accused the BJP of staging the arrest hours before the Election Commission of India was scheduled to release notification for the Lok Sabha polls, to demoralise the BRS cadre. He reminded that the BJP leaders including the party State president and union Minister G Kishan Reddy have been repeatedly threatening to arrest Kavitha soon, as if they were the ED investigation officers.
The former Minister said both the BJP and the Congress have colluded to create uncertainty and fear among the BRS cadre by crushing their spirits before the Lok Sabha polls. He pointed out that Kavitha who was initially summoned as a witness in the case, was now being arrested as an accused. However, he reminded that such conspiracies and arrests were not new to the BRS leaders who faced numerous such cases during Telangana statehood movement and thereafter.
Former Ministers G Jagadish Reddy, Vemula Prashanth Reddy and other leaders were also present.