Under Fire Over Liquor Policy Scam, K Kavitha's Show of Strength in Delhi Tomorrow | Attendees' List

A show of strength of the opposition leaders is being planned in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Friday, March 10. The one-day hunger strike has been organised by Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao’s politician daughter K Kavitha, who is facing the ED heat in the Delhi liquor policy ‘scam’.

Those attending the dharna include Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh and Chitra Sarwara, Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anjum Javed Mirza from People’s Democratic Party Anjum Javed Mirza, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference’s Shami Firdous, Trinamool Congress’ Sushmita Dev, Janata Dal (United)’s KC Tyagi and Nationalist Congress Party’s Seema Malik.

From the Left front, D Raja and Sitaram Yechury will join the agitation. Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are likely to send representatives too.

The protest is to seek introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the current session of Parliament. Kavitha will lead the protest under the aegis of Bharat Jagruthi, an NGO, demanding the tabling of the bill.

K Kavitha on Protest Plan & Oppn Support

“Women reservation bill is being discussed for long. In 1996 it was passed in Rajya Sabha but was never in tabled in Lok Sabha. I want to thank Madam Sonia Gandhi for bringing in the bill. Even though she was running a coalition government, Gandhi was brought in the bill,” Kavitha said in New Delhi on Thursday.

The BRS leader further said that ever since then the bill is lying in cold storage. “In 2014, Modi ji promised that he will bring in the bill. It is there in their manifesto too. He made the same promise in 2019 as well. He won the elections with a huge mandate but the bill was never tabled,” she said, adding that she wants to request the President of India to consider their request.

“It is a request to the BJP to not politicise the issue as it is not about any party but about the women in India. We have decided to hold a protest demanding the tabling of the bill. Around 18 parties have told us that they will participate. Sitaram Yechury will inaugurate the protest at 10 am on Friday,” Kavitha said.

When asked if Congress too would join her demonstration, she said, “Sonia Gandhi is a big leader and I am small player. I have asked (Mallikarjun) Kharge ji to send a representative. I don’t know who will come.”

If you see Congress’ condition today, they have remained a regional party. They are not a national party anymore. They should come out of their bubble. They should work with all parties against the BJP.

“Congress will know their stand better. There is no doubt that the opposition parties needs to come together, but if Congress without them there is no opposition then they need to check again. How many MLAs do they have over all?” Kavitha asked.

She also said that Delhi police is not giving them permission for the Jantar Mantar protest but they are “in talks with them”.

K Kavitha’s Tussle with ED Over Delhi Liquor Policy Scam Questioning Date

A day ago, BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri had attacked Telangana CM’s daughter over her “sudden epiphany to fight” for Women’s Reservation Bill at a time when she is “evolving as a key conspirator in the Delhi liquor policy ‘scam’.

READ MORE | ‘Chronology Samjhiye’: Link Between K Kavitha’s ‘Nepotist’ Rise & Delhi Liquor Scam Explained

Kavitha Kalvakuntla (44) was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate to depose before it on March 9. The BRS leader, however, in a late-night tweet stated that she will appear before the ED on March 11.

Addressing the case at the press conference on Thursday, Kavitha said, “The ED sent me a notice to come on March 9. I told them that I will come on March 16, but I don’t know why did they reject my request. What’s the haste?”

“When ED questions a women, by law she should be questioned at home. I told them if they want to question me or interrogate me with someone then come home on March 11. But they told me I have to come to ED office,” she added.

The BRS leader has been called by the agency so that she can be confronted with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, an alleged frontman of the “south group”, who was arrested by the ED on Monday.

The agency will record Kavitha’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during this confrontation.

The BRS leader said she would fully cooperate with the investigation agency but would seek legal opinion on the date of deposition in view of her proposed dharna in Delhi on March 10 in support of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Kavitha said “these tactics of intimidation” against the fight of her father and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and the BRS would not deter them.

The BRS leader has been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in this case earlier.

It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers, who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in New Delhi.

The policy was later scrapped and the Delhi Lt Governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.

Read all the Latest Politics News here