A Bharatiya Janata Party MP has set the cat among the pigeons in Telangana politics, suggesting that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy may one day walk out of the Congress, much as West Bengal’s Suvendu Adhikari did when he abandoned the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP six years ago. Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind made the remarks on Monday, arguing that the Congress leadership had sown the seeds of its own trouble in Telangana by picking Revanth Reddy as chief minister while sidelining senior party figures who had spent decades in the organisation.
“I really don’t know if something is brewing, something similar to what Suvendu Adhikari did,” Arvind said, stopping short of making a firm prediction but leaving the insinuation hanging in the air.
His comments came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a remark at a public event in Hyderabad that set political tongues wagging. Speaking directly to Revanth Reddy, who was present on stage at the time, Modi said, “Aap jahan pahunchna chahte hain, nahi pahunch payenge… achha hai ki mere se hi judo”, loosely translated as, “You may not reach where you want to reach… You should join me.” Reddy responded with a smile and said nothing.
Arvind acknowledged he could not be certain what the Prime Minister had meant. “I don’t know what that means exactly, as I am just a ground-level worker in the BJP. I’m not sure if there is a political link there,” he said.
Beyond the defection talk, Arvind made a sweeping prediction about the Congress party’s prospects in Telangana, declaring it was heading for a heavy defeat at the next state assembly elections. “Congress will face an unprecedented defeat in 2028-29 here in Telangana. They lost badly in 1985 and in 1994. In 2028-29, under the leadership of Revanth Reddy, the Congress party is going to face a disastrous defeat,” he said. He added that the state would witness “high decibel politics” over the next two years before the BJP eventually came to power.
The remarks are unlikely to go unanswered. Political tensions between the BJP and the ruling Congress in Telangana are already running high, with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections expected later this year, sharpening the rivalry further. A pointed suggestion that the Chief Minister may be weighing his options is precisely the kind of provocation that rarely passes without a sharp response.
