$18,500 was paid by the office of the ‘Chief Minister of the Government of Telangana’.
Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao, former Telangana Industries and IT Minister, and son of former Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekhar Rao, spent more than Rs 15 lakh of public money to get media coverage of his May 2023 business tour of the United States.
KTR, as he is commonly known, engaged a Washington-based lobbying firm to ensure his visit to the US and its impact, post his return, were covered widely. The fees that were paid for this service was $18,500 or Rs 15 lakh. The lobbying firm in question, Qorvis, signed the contract with “The Chief Minister of the Government of Telangana”, K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
A local businessman, Sanketh Kondur, who is based in New York, and is the Managing Director at Airserve Initiatives, a startup, signed the contract on behalf of the interested parties.
In lieu of the fees, Qorvis promised to “ secure three to four high-value media hits showcasing the Minister’s success and Telangana’s significant achievements.”
This included a show time on “GPS”, a show hosted by media personality, Fareed Zakaria, participation in two podcasts, “The Opening Bell” and “The President’s Inbox” (run by the Council on Foreign Relations) while he was in New York.
As a part of the coverage of the Washington leg, Rao was promised coverage in the Washington Post, NPR and Global Dispatches.
In Houston, Texas he was committed coverage in the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Business Journal, while in California, Qorvis signed that they would get coverage of KTR in the San Francisco Times, TechCrunch, CNET and a sit-in with “On Shifting Ground” with Ray Suarez, a podcast host.
Apart from this, Qorvis told KTR that it would conduct media outreach on his behalf to other media organizations to secure interviews. It also said that it would provide background materials on authors, interviewers, journalists, and publications including previous coverage examples and help the minister to refine messaging and conduct practice sessions before interviews.
The Sunday Guardian had reached out to KTR on his various listed emails in the third week of January for a response but none was shared even after two weeks of the reply being sought.
Qorvis also provided for thorough media monitoring of the visit and a post-trip report measuring the reach and impact of the secured interviews.
During the time KTR was visiting the US, his father KCR was propping himself up as the joint Opposition Prime Minister face against the BJP, while hoping for a third successive win in the Assembly elections that were slated for five months later. However, none of the two could materialize for KCR, as he went on to lose the Assembly elections. He was also not included in the 28-party alliance that was later named as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.