– that’s all you need to know
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News India Times
May 1, 2015
Community
By Ela Dutt
alvakuntla Kavitha
Rao, Telugu Rashtra
Samiti Member of
Parliament from
Nizamabad con-
stituency of
Telangana, is unfazed by the
challenge of filling the big shoes
of her almost legendary father,
the relentless and successful
fighter for Telangana statehood
and the state’s first Chief
Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Sworn in last year, her short term
in Parliament has not been with-
out controversy, most recently
for saying that Telangana and
Jammu & Kashmir were “force-
fully annexed” by India. But Rao
appears to have the political
chops to mend fences, even
praising the Modi government,
which has her on its radar as a
politician it can work with.
Kavitha Rao, 37, has a some-
what unusual background for a
politician. A science nerd of
sorts, she studied at Hyderabad’s
Stanley Girls High School, got
her B. Tech fromVallurupalli
Nageswara RaoVignana Jyothi
Institute of Engineering and
Technology, then joined the
Masters in computer science
program at the University of
Southern Mississippi.
She also operated a string of
beauty salons jointly owned with
her husband. Rao is married to
Devanapalli Anil Kumar, and the
couple has two sons, Aaditya, 12,
and Aarya, 8. She’s here in the
United States on a three-week
visit to strengthen ties with over-
seas Telugus and build alliances
with American universities.
Rao spoke to News India
Times April 19, about the hopes,
dreams and achievements as
well as the trials and tribulations
of Telangana and its people.
You were sworn in as an MP in
June last year – so it’s almost a
year in parliament. There was
speculation this February, less
than a year of your term in New
Delhi, that you were to be
inducted into the Modi govern-
ment’s Council of Ministers,
possibly in April according to
some news reports. Where is
that possibility today and has
anything happened on that
front?
Well, we’ll wait and watch
what happens. These are just
news reports. There has been no
communication between the
parties. But I feel very good to be
considered worthy of this posi-
tion even though it is still specu-
lation.
What are your views about the
creation of the new Telangana
state and its future? Your father’s
life, and much of yours too has
been dedicated to the creation of
a separate Telangana state.
This is not a new state. A state
was already there but we did not
have the access to resources.
And as we agitated, now we have
access to the resources. Today,
we are number two in terms of
per capita income among states
in India.We knew always that
Telangana had the resources but
not the access to them. Now the
people of Telangana are able to
control the money and
resources, distribute the wealth
and create the kind of social
services that we want our people
to have. One example of using
our resources isWarangal district
which has become an education
hub. Now the chief minister
wants it to be a textile hub as
well. Initiatives like this help per-
colate the wealth to the people.
This is what has changed.We are
trying to change things for the
better in the other poor districts
as well.
Were you familiar with the
Telugu community here in the
United States?
I lived in the United States
some years ago when I came to
study here. I studied in both
Woodbridge, New Jersey, and
also in Mississippi. In Mississippi
I was doing a Masters in
Computer Science and Artificial
Intelligence. But unfortunately, I
did not get to finish it. I also
interned with a NASA (affiliate)
while I was studying. When I
went back to India in 2004, I
jumped into the Telangana
movement and formed a non-
profit called Telangana Jagruthi
and worked with the people at
the grassroots. Politics is a differ-
ent ballgame altogether (from
academia). It is difficult but I’m
from a political family so I
understand what it takes to be
there. The pressure is manage-
able.
Continued on page 6
K
A Conversation With Visiting Lawmaker K. Kavitha Rao
Championing Telangana
Kalvakuntla Kavitha Rao, Telugu Rashtra Samiti Member of Parliament from Nizamabad constituency of Telangana, speaks at the North America launch of the Telangana Jagruthi in Detroit, Michigan, April 4.
Below, Rao, center, with Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh, publisher of News India Times and recipient of India’s Padma Shri award, and Dr. Sudha Parikh.
