Telugu Political Dynasties Divided: Five Years of Feuds of K. Kavitha and Y.S. Sharmila

Dynasties and Dissent in the Telugu States

Politics in India’s Telugu-speaking states has long been dominated by powerful families. In Telangana, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) built the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi, BRS) into a formidable force with close family members in key roles. In neighboring Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rise with the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) drew on the legacy of his father, the late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR). Over the past five years (2020–2025), however, two scions of these dynasties – K. Kavitha in Telangana and Y. S. Sharmila in Andhra – have charted rebellious paths that ruptured both family bonds and party ranks. This long-form analysis examines their parallel journeys of dissent, comparing the family dynamics behind their breakaways and the political fallout that ensued in both Telugu states.

Cracks in the KCR Clan: Kavitha’s Rebellion

K. Kavitha, daughter of KCR and a prominent face of the BRS, began the 2020s as a loyal lieutenant in her father’s camp. A former MP who lost her Lok Sabha seat in 2019, she was accommodated as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in 2020 – ostensibly keeping her in the political arena. Yet behind the scenes, signs of strain emerged. Kavitha found herself overshadowed by her brother, K. T. Rama Rao (KTR), whom KCR was openly grooming as heir-apparent, and by other influential relatives in the party . The first family of Telangana’s ruling party, once seen as a tight unit, was developing fissures. Rumblings of a sibling rivalry surfaced subtly as KTR was elevated to BRS working president, while Kavitha’s role remained secondary. By 2022, an ominous cloud gathered: her name surfaced in a high-profile corruption probe – the Delhi liquor policy scandal – drawing intense scrutiny and embarrassment to the BRS. Kavitha was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate and even jailed briefly in March 2024 for her alleged role in what investigators dubbed the “South cartel” of the liquor scam . Though she secured bail in August 2024 , the episode dented her image and, crucially, intensified her sense of isolation within her own party.

Defiance of a Daughter: In early 2025, Kavitha’s simmering discontent burst into the open. She penned a candid six-page letter to her father KCR after a BRS plenary in Warangal, critiquing what she saw as “organisational lapses” and even questioning KCR’s combative strategy . In the leaked letter, Kavitha complained that KCR had been strangely soft on the BJP, attacking it only briefly while focusing most of his ire on the Congress . Such criticism – essentially chiding the party supremo’s approach – was unprecedented. Kavitha also dropped a bombshell claim that while she was jailed in the excise case, a proposal was floated to merge the BRS with the BJP, a move she says she vehemently rejected as a betrayal of Telangana’s interests . These revelations, delivered through press conferences and public statements, laid bare a growing rift. Kavitha was no longer couching her grievances in private; she was effectively charging that party insiders were steering the BRS astray and even conspiring behind her back.

Over the next months, the estrangement between father and daughter widened. Kavitha undertook high-visibility acts of dissent – from a 72-hour hunger strike over backward class reservations (pointedly without official BRS support) to social media jibes at unnamed “BRS brothers” who stayed silent as she was attacked . She lamented that no one in the party, not even her brother KTR, defended her during these episodes . In August 2025, Kavitha was abruptly removed as honorary president of the Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (a coal miners’ union affiliated to the BRS) – a position she had held as a champion of labor rights . Feeling cornered, she publicly alleged “conspiracies” against her within the party, claiming certain trusted confidants of KCR were engineering her downfall . At the heart of her accusations were two of her own relatives: T. Harish Rao (KCR’s nephew and a senior minister) and J. Santosh Kumar (another close nephew and Rajya Sabha MP). In a dramatic press conference on September 1, 2025, Kavitha accused Harish and Santosh of tarnishing KCR’s image by their misdeeds in the massive Kaleshwaram irrigation project, which was now under a corruption probe by the new state government . “We have to think why the taint of corruption came to KCR,” she said, alleging these individuals had enriched themselves using KCR’s name and brought a “stain” to her father’s reputation . She noted pointedly that Harish Rao, as Irrigation Minister in KCR’s first term, surely had a “major role” in the project’s irregularities, implying her father had sidelined him in the second term for that reason .

The very same day, KTR – the son in KCR’s political family – tweeted lavish praise of Harish Rao’s performance in the legislature, signaling exactly where his loyalties lay . The public spectacle of one sibling denouncing a cousin while another sibling defended him underscored the depth of the family schism. For the BRS rank and file, it was astonishing to see KCR’s daughter openly contradict the party line. (Until then, the BRS had dismissed the Kaleshwaram probe as a “witch-hunt” by the opposition Congress government; Kavitha instead blamed internal wrongdoing ) The die was cast. Within 24 hours, on September 2, 2025, KCR authorized the party disciplinary committee to suspend Kavitha from the BRS for “anti-party activities” . The notice – pointedly not signed by KCR or KTR but by other officials – declared that her recent behavior had “damaged the party” and could not be ignored . In effect, the patriarch chose the party (and the relatives she attacked) over his own daughter. Kavitha, sources indicated, prepared to resign her party membership and MLC seat in the wake of the suspension . What began as subtle discontent had escalated into a full-blown family feud leading to an estrangement between KCR and his once-adoring daughter – and an extraordinary fissure in Telangana’s ruling dynasty.

Rift in YSR’s Legacy: Sharmila’s Revolt

In Andhra Pradesh, a parallel drama was unfolding within the storied YSR family. Y. S. Sharmila, younger sister of Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, had been instrumental in her brother’s early political battles – famously walking 3,000 km in 2012–13 to campaign for him when Jagan was jailed in a corruption case . She fiercely helped uphold their father YSR’s legacy as Jagan built the YSRCP. However, after Jagan’s landslide victory in 2019 (151 of 175 Assembly seats), Sharmila discovered that there was no space for her in the corridors of power she had helped her brother attain . Jagan, running a tightly centralized government and party, did not assign her any role – not even in the party organization – a slight that grew increasingly difficult for Sharmila to accept . Insiders note that Jagan, who had always doted on his “kid sister,” simply never imagined she would seek a political stake of her own . But by late 2020, Sharmila’s ambitions could no longer be contained.

A Daughter’s Ambition vs. A Son’s Power: The first signs of an open rift came in February 2021, when Sharmila convened a meeting of her loyal supporters at the family’s Lotus Pond residence in Hyderabad – pointedly, supporters from Telangana rather than Andhra Pradesh . This gathering, essentially a launchpad for her independent political foray, took place without her brother’s blessing. Reports soon emerged that serious differences had cropped up within the YSR family over Sharmila’s plans . Jagan’s close aide, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, publicly admitted as much: “We tried our level best to dissuade Sharmila from plunging into active politics… but her decision is her conscious choice”. He underscored that neither Jagan nor the YSRCP would have anything to do with Sharmila’s new venture . In other words, the brother-sister political split was official. Unfazed, Sharmila pressed ahead, convinced that there was a “political vacuum in Telangana” for her to fill . On July 8, 2021 – what would have been YSR’s 72nd birthday – she launched the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Telangana Party (YSRTP) at a rally in Khammam, Telangana . It was a poignant gesture: the party name bore her late father’s initials and promised a revival of “Rajanna Rajyam” (YSR’s welfare-driven governance) in a state her father once ruled as a united Andhra Pradesh. The very act of creating a new party in Telangana symbolized Sharmila’s break not just from her brother’s organization but from the unwritten pact that Jagan would reign in Andhra while leaving Telangana’s turf uncontested.

For the next two years, Sharmila relentlessly built her profile in Telangana’s opposition space – effectively rebelling against both her brother and KCR (her party targeted KCR’s BRS regime). She embarked on a padayatra (foot march) across Telangana’s districts, echoing the grassroots style her father and brother had famously used . She staged hunger strikes against the KCR government’s failures and consoled families of unemployed youths, loudly invoking YSR’s legacy of compassionate governance . All the while, Jagan kept his distance. Family elders were clearly torn: their mother, Y. S. Vijayamma, initially tried to straddle both her children’s worlds as YSRCP’s honorary president. But by July 2022, even she made a dramatic choice – resigning from YSRCP to stand with her daughter. In an emotional speech at a YSRCP plenary, Vijayamma said she “cannot continue with both the parties” and that it would be “injustice to my daughter” if she did not support Sharmila’s quest . With that, the matriarch publicly acknowledged the family fracture, saying she had stood by her son in his hardest times and now her daughter “needs me more” . Jagan, secure in his political fortress, let his mother go – a telling indicator of how irreconcilable the sibling rift had become.

By 2023, Sharmila’s rebellion evolved yet again. Realizing the limits of her fledgling party in Telangana’s high-stakes elections, she made a strategic retreat: YSRTP decided not to contest the 2023 Telangana Assembly polls, to avoid splitting the anti-KCR vote . Instead, Sharmila tacitly supported the Congress, contributing (by her claim) to the opposition’s victory over KCR’s BRS in that election . This move set the stage for her next bold step – returning to the national party her father once served. In late 2023, talks accelerated between Sharmila and the Congress high command. On December 30, 2023, standing alongside Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, Sharmila announced the merger of YSRTP into the Congress . She hailed the Congress as the “largest secular party” and said her father, a lifelong Congress leader, would be happy to see his daughter “following in his footsteps” . With this, Sharmila effectively positioned herself as a Congress leader – ironically uniting with the very party that her brother had vilified and abandoned a decade prior.

Sharmila’s new alliance was not merely symbolic. The Congress immediately indicated it would deploy her in Andhra Pradesh, which faces assembly elections in 2024. She was welcomed as a prodigal heir to YSR’s legacy: the party offered her a prominent role – possibly Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president or an All-India Congress Committee posting – and even hinted at a Rajya Sabha seat to sweeten the deal . By early 2024, Sharmila had shifted her focus squarely to Andhra politics, openly ready to challenge her brother on his home turf. Unsurprisingly, the fraternal relationship only deteriorated further. In mid-2024, Jagan Mohan Reddy took the extraordinary step of filing a complaint against Sharmila in the National Company Law Tribunal, accusing her of improperly usurping shares in a family-owned company by using their mother’s name . In that filing, the Andhra Chief Minister unambiguously stated “there is no love lost” between him and his sister  – an official confirmation that their personal equation was broken beyond repair. From politics to business, the YSR siblings were at war. The once-close brother and sister, separated by barely a year in age, had become open rivals in power and purpose.

Familial Feuds and Political Fallout in Telangana

These family ruptures carried significant political implications in Telangana. Kavitha’s rebellion came at a sensitive juncture: the BRS had just lost power in the 2023 state elections after two consecutive terms (a defeat KCR reportedly attributed to anti-incumbency and Congress’s resurgence). In the wake of that loss, Kavitha’s outspoken critiques magnified the perception of a party in disarray. Public perception of the BRS first family took a hit as the dirty linen was aired. For supporters of KCR, seeing his daughter question his leadership style – for example, implying he had been too lenient on the BJP – was jarring . Opposition parties quickly seized on these cracks. The Congress, fresh from its 2023 victory, cited Kavitha’s allegations about the Kaleshwaram project to bolster its narrative that KCR’s regime was steeped in corruption. When Kavitha herself says her father’s name was “dragged through the mud” by his closest associates, it lends credence to what rivals have long alleged . The new Congress Chief Minister, A. Revanth Reddy, wasted no time launching a CBI investigation into the Kaleshwaram irrigation project – a move that directly set off Kavitha’s eruption against her cousins . Congress leaders have highlighted the BRS civil war as evidence that “even KCR’s family doesn’t trust his leadership,” sharpening the moral contrast Congress seeks to draw ahead of upcoming national elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too, found ammunition: Kavitha’s claim that a BRS-BJP merger was secretly discussed during her incarceration put KCR on the defensive, forcing him to deny any backchannel deals with the BJP (a party he publicly opposes) . BJP functionaries gleefully amplified this claim to sow doubt about BRS’s integrity, painting KCR as willing to strike bargains for survival.

Within the BRS, internal realignments have been subtle but telling. Kavitha’s expulsion effectively cements KTR’s status as the undisputed successor in the party hierarchy – a succession plan now uncontested by any sibling rivalry. Harish Rao, the once-sidelined nephew, appears to have closed ranks with KTR, the two cousins presenting a united front after years of rumored friction . Party insiders suggest that well before Kavitha’s outburst, Harish and KTR had made peace and agreed to “work together,” leaving Kavitha isolated as a lone dissenter . With Kavitha gone, KCR has lost not only a daughter in the party but also the face of Telangana’s cultural outreach (she led Telangana Jagruthi, the cultural organization instrumental in the statehood movement). Some analysts warn that this could erode a small but significant segment of the BRS base – specifically women and youth cadres who admired Kavitha’s outspokenness and role in Telangana’s formation. Her suspension might also send ripples of uncertainty through the cadre about the BRS’s stability. However, others argue KCR’s firm action against his kin could bolster his image as a disciplinarian who puts party before family. Indeed, BRS loyalists have publicly spun the episode as KCR’s commitment to “cleaning house,” noting that he did not spare even his daughter when it came to anti-party conduct  . Whether that narrative holds will depend on how Kavitha positions herself next – if she remains relatively quiet, the storm may pass; if she turns into a rallying point for disgruntled elements, BRS could face a longer-term headache. At present, no mass exodus from BRS has followed her ouster, indicating KCR’s tight grip on the organization endures. But the episode has undoubtedly given the opposition new fodder and left a question mark over the aura of invincibility that once surrounded the KCR clan. In Telangana’s political discourse, the Kavitha-KCR split has become a cautionary tale of dynastic cracks – one that opposition parties will invoke as they court voters disenchanted with family-run politics .

Familial Feuds and Political Fallout in Andhra Pradesh

In Andhra Pradesh, the reverberations of Sharmila’s rebellion have been more indirect but still significant. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress remains firmly in power (with a massive mandate from 2019), and Sharmila’s activities were largely outside the state until recently. Thus, the public perception impacts initially played out as whispers rather than waves. Many AP voters viewed Sharmila’s decision to start a separate party in Telangana as a quixotic venture – after all, she was operating in a different state. Yet, as her feud with Jagan became unmistakable, opposition forces in Andhra began to leverage it. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jagan’s principal rival, cited the sibling split as indicative of the YSRCP chief’s domineering style. “If Jagan cannot keep even his family together, how can Andhra people trust him?” became a refrain in some opposition circles, attacking the YSRCP’s core image of a cohesive YSR legacy. Jagan’s own responses unintentionally added fuel: when he dismissed the rift with Sharmila as “ghar ghar ki kahani” (“an everyday family squabble”), critics pounced on the remark as evidence of insensitivity . TDP and others framed it as Jagan trivializing a fallout that involved his aging mother walking away from him – hardly a trivial matter in family-centric Indian politics. Furthermore, as Sharmila joined the Congress by early 2024, the opposition party strategies began to formalize. The Congress, virtually obliterated in Andhra since the state’s 2014 bifurcation, saw in Sharmila a hope to rekindle its fortunes. Her entry was touted as “YSR’s daughter returns”, aiming to lure voters who still fondly remember the late YSR’s golden days . Congress strategists planned a campaign centered on welfare nostalgia, with Sharmila front and center as the prodigal torchbearer of YSR’s ideals . In practical terms, she was expected to crisscross Andhra Pradesh in the run-up to the 2024 polls, likely drawing on her past experience of pulling crowds for Jagan. The impact of this move has not gone unnoticed by Jagan’s YSRCP. For the first time, he faces the prospect of his father’s brand being used against him by a combination of his estranged sister and the national party their father once led. YSRCP leaders privately worry that Sharmila on a Congress podium – flanked by photos of YSR – could peel away a portion of rural and older voters who were once Congress loyalists before switching to Jagan .

Internally, the YSRCP has taken measures to fortify against any fallout. The party, which has always been tightly controlled by Jagan, witnessed no significant defections toward Sharmila’s camp; she was operating in Telangana and posed little direct threat to Jagan’s cadre. However, the moral authority within the YSR family has clearly split. With Vijayamma openly aligning with Sharmila, Jagan lost that symbolic pillar of his party (she resigned as YSRCP honorary president) . This was largely a symbolic post, but her departure was used by opponents to suggest that even Jagan’s mother had lost faith in him. Jagan’s camp, on its part, projected confidence – even nonchalance – about Sharmila’s moves. By mid-2024, as the legal dispute over family assets spilled into public view, YSRCP leaders emphasized that Jagan was merely protecting what was rightfully his (and the party’s). The nasty fight over a power company’s shares, with accusations of usurpation against Sharmila , signaled that reconciliation was off the table. Yet it also risked painting Jagan in a harsh light: dragging one’s sister to court is not a good look for a leader who trades heavily on family legacy. The calculation in the YSRCP seems to be that their achievements in governance and Jagan’s personal charisma will outweigh any sympathy Sharmila might garner. So far, that appears to hold – there’s little evidence of a popular groundswell for Sharmila within Andhra Pradesh. But her alliance with the Congress introduces a wildcard. If the Congress (with Sharmila as a figurehead) even slightly dents YSRCP’s vote share in the 2024 elections, it could alter the balance in a state where Jagan currently faces a united TDP-BJP front. In essence, Sharmila’s rebellion has opened a new front for Jagan: he must now fend off not just his traditional rivals, but also the legacy of his own father being invoked by a family member turned opponent. This development has emboldened the opposition’s strategy in Andhra, giving them a compelling narrative of a “family betrayed by Jagan’s ambition” to chip away at the YSRCP’s image of unity and continuity.

A Tale of Two Rebellions: Comparative Insights

Juxtaposing Kavitha’s and Sharmila’s trajectories reveals both common threads and stark differences in the nature of their rebellions. Family Dynamics: Both women hail from political dynasties where power was concentrated in a male figure – a father in one case, a brother in the other. Each felt marginalized as the family’s political scion prioritized someone else: Kavitha saw her brother KTR (and other male relatives) wield greater influence in KCR’s BRS, while Sharmila saw Jagan monopolize YSR’s legacy, leaving her no room . In both cases, the rebels initially toed the line – Kavitha was a dutiful party soldier during Telangana’s statehood agitation and first term, Sharmila tirelessly campaigned for Jagan in 2012 and again in 2019 . But as victories were secured, their roles diminished, and discontent brewed at being side-lined in favor of other family members or confidants.

Notably, the trigger for open rebellion differed. Sharmila’s break was proactive: she had a clear ambition to carve her own political identity, which she pursued by forming a new party. In her case, the familial rupture was the price she was willing to pay for a shot at power and purpose. Kavitha’s rebellion, by contrast, was somewhat reactive: it escalated when she felt the family (and party) were failing her or going astray, especially after her brush with legal troubles and the party’s electoral loss. She fought an internal battle to “correct” or reclaim the party’s direction – whether by urging a tougher stand against the BJP or by exposing internal corruption – before ultimately being cast out . In other words, Sharmila left the fold to pursue her path, whereas Kavitha was made to leave after challenging the fold’s internal hierarchy.

Rebellion Style: Sharmila’s revolt was frontal and direct – floating a rival party with her father’s name, directly opposing her brother’s implicit alliance with KCR by contesting in Telangana, and eventually joining Jagan’s arch-enemy (the Congress). She did not mince words about Jagan either once she switched sides; as newly appointed Andhra Congress chief in 2024, Sharmila accused her brother’s government of neglect and autocracy, signaling a no-holds-barred contest ahead . Kavitha’s rebellion, in contrast, was more nuanced and couched in loyalty to her father. Even as she lambasted KCR’s close aides and questioned his strategies, she maintained she was protecting KCR’s name from “stains” and asserted her father would emerge “pure as a pearl” from any probe . She stopped short of attacking KCR personally; her ire was focused on his circle and, at times, on her brother’s silence. This perhaps reflects the different family equations: KCR is not just a sibling but the patriarch, commanding a different kind of deference. Sharmila, dealing with a brother-peer as her adversary, found it easier to mount a full challenge.

Political Impact and Aftermath: Both rebellions have certainly rattled their respective parties, but the scale differs. Kavitha’s feud struck at the heart of the ruling party in Telangana, contributing to an existing leadership crisis post-election. BRS had to manage not only an electoral setback but also the spectacle of a public family feud. Yet BRS is a well-oiled political machine beyond just the family – it has ministers, MLAs, and a cadre forged in the Telangana movement, which largely remain intact. The party’s decision to expel Kavitha was swift damage control and sends a message that the KCR-KTR leadership will not tolerate indiscipline, even from kin . In contrast, YSRCP’s structure is so centered on Jagan that Sharmila’s exit, being from the periphery, did not threaten an organizational split; no MLA or senior leader left with her. The damage to Jagan is more reputational – the sheen of the happy YSR family is gone, and opposition voices have gained an entry point to question his inclusiveness. Going forward, Sharmila’s impact will be measured in votes: if she can tilt even a few percent away from YSRCP by evoking YSR’s memory under the Congress banner, it could be consequential in a tight race. Kavitha’s impact, conversely, might be measured in narrative: her allegations could haunt BRS in public discourse and give meat to opposition attacks, even if she herself has limited means to dent BRS’s voter base without a platform of her own (as of now, she has not floated a new party or joined an opposition party).

Opposition Reception: Interestingly, each rebel found a more welcoming embrace from the rival camp of their original family. Sharmila has been embraced by Congress in a state her father once served – a coming full circle of sorts . Kavitha, while not (yet) joining any opposition party, has earned unusual nods from opposition quarters for “speaking truth to power” within BRS. Telangana’s opposition leaders in Congress and BJP have cited her statements approvingly to validate their own criticism of KCR’s rule . This dynamic underscores how personal rebellions can be politically opportunistic for rivals: one person’s feud becomes another’s fodder.

Ultimately, both Kavitha and Sharmila illustrate the precarious balancing act of dynastic politics. When power is a family affair, personal relationships and political equations intertwine – and when they break, the fallout is both familial and public. Over five years, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have witnessed two daughters stepping out of the shadows of giant figures, each rupturing a famous family in the process. Their journeys have not only reshaped their own lives but also injected new variables into the political calculus of their states. The coming years will tell whether Kavitha and Sharmila can translate their rebellions into lasting political capital or whether their stories serve mainly as cautionary tales of dynasty and dissent in India’s vibrant democracy. What is clear already is that the political landscape of the Telugu states has been indelibly marked by these family feuds, with reverberations likely to be felt for years to come.