Hyderabad, March 15 (IANS): Condemning the "illegal" arrest of its leader K. Kavitha by the Enforcement Directorate on Friday, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) vowed to fight it politically and legally.

BRS leader and former minister T. Harish Rao told reporters that they will approach the Supreme Court to challenge the arrest.

The party has also given a call for protests against the arrest at all constituency headquarters in Telangana on Saturday.

Harish Rao termed Kavitha’s arrest a political conspiracy to damage the prospects of the BRS in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"The arrest in a pre-planned manner a day before the announcement of the schedule for Lok Sabha elections shows that it is aimed at demoralising BRS cadres," he said.

Stating that the BRS fought many such illegal arrests and false cases in its 14-year-long battle for Telangana, he said the party will counter it politically and legally.

"We have full faith in the judiciary. We will consult lawyers and file a petition in the Supreme Court," he said.

Harish Rao said the ED arrested Kavitha despite giving a word to the Supreme Court during the hearing of the case today that it would not take any coercive steps.

The court had posted the hearing to March 19.

"What was the urgency for the ED," he asked.

He mentioned that the Supreme Court was examining the larger issue of whether ED can arrest women.

"Arresting a woman after 6.30 p.m. and that too on a Friday is a clear political conspiracy ahead of Lok Sabha polls. It’s an act of political vendetta," he said

He recalled that Kavitha was earlier given a notice as a witness in the case, but now she has been arrested as an accused and asked what ED was doing for one-and-a-half years.