Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. File.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) accused Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of displaying arrogance and disrespect towards the party’s national president, Nitin Nabin, warning that his remarks could prove politically costly for the Congress in the State.
Responding sharply to Mr. Reddy’s remarks, BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said the words Mr. Reddy used were not only objectionable and condemnable but also revealed his “arrogance, and the culture of the Congress, particularly the party’s subservience to a single family”.
Mr. Reddy was “not fit to be a student of Indian political science” if he did not know the name of the national president of the country’s largest political party, Mr. Patra further said.
The BJP’s criticism followed Mr. Reddy’s comments at the Rythu Bharosa programme he addressed in Hyderabad on Tuesday (June 30, 2026). “Recently, a guy came here, Nabin or whatever, I don’t really know his name. But he comes here and says, the next government is theirs. You said the same thing about West Bengal. It took you 15 years [to form a government] in West Bengal. Over there, because it was Mamata Banerjee, your tricks might have worked. But here, all our guys are ready, and they will crush you,” Mr. Reddy said.
Mr. Patra described the remarks as an attempt to mock the BJP chief. “Recall what happened to those who indulged in such ridicule. Mamata Banerjee had similarly targeted Amit Shah, and her party leaders also made such remarks. Today, see where their party stands. India does not tolerate such arrogance,” the BJP leader said.
Highlighting Mr. Nabin’s political journey, Mr. Patra said the BJP president had served five terms as an MLA and had also been a State Minister.
“A grassroots leader has become the party’s national president, which is possible only in the BJP. It is not like your party (referring to the Congress), where party presidents and Prime Ministers are either born into a particular family or appointed at the behest of those regarded as ‘avatars’,” Mr. Patra said.
“When Rahul Gandhi was in the cradle, your leaders would touch his feet and say ‘here comes our future Prime Minister, our future party president’. This kind of mindset does not exist in the BJP,” Mr. Patra said, taking a swipe at the Congress.
He also questioned the unity of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, referring to Mr. Reddy comments on Ms. Banerjee.
(With inputs from ANI)
Published – July 01, 2026 07:29 pm IST
