Seemingly overcome with emotion, the chief minister said the BRS allegations were entirely false. Instead, he accused the party of engaging in political witch-hunting.
Published Mar 27, 2025 | 11:24 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 27, 2025 | 11:24 PM
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy (X)
Synopsis: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy denied allegations of engaging in vindictive politics against Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders, despite enduring hardships at the hands of the previous government. Speaking on the final day of the Budget session on Thursday, he asserted that if his aim were retribution, BRS leaders would not have had the freedom to speak as they do now.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has dismissed claims that he is engaging in vindictive politics against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders for their past actions against him.
Speaking in the Assembly on the final day of the Budget session on Thursday, 27 March, the chief minister asserted that if his aim were to settle scores, many of BRS’ leaders would not have had the freedom to speak as they do now.
Seemingly overcome with emotion, Revanth Reddy said the BRS allegations were entirely false. Instead, he accused the party of engaging in political witch-hunting.
He recalled his 16-day incarceration in Cherlapally Jail in Hyderabad after being arrested in March 2020, when the pink party was in power. Despite serving as a Member of Parliament (MP) at the time, he said he was confined to a cramped cell with barely any space to move.
The chief minister further accused the previous BRS regime of filing a case against him following the 2020 arrest, even though his offence was merely flying a drone without permission near the farmhouse of BRS Working President K T Rama Rao in Jawahar Nagar, for which the maximum penalty was only a ₹500 fine.
He recalled what he termed as difficult conditions in jail, where the tube light in his cell was deliberately kept on all night, preventing him from sleeping.
When he enquired about this, a guard reportedly explained that he was simply following orders from his superiors.
Moreover, as the prison was an open facility, Reddy said that swarms of insects gathered around the light, attracting large lizards that preyed on them.
“I never slept at night during those 16 days. Only after sunrise would I find rest under the shade of a tree in the jail premises, which also housed hardcore criminals and terrorists,” he said.
The chief minister also recalled being denied permission to visit home in 2015 to finalise his daughter’s marriage alliance.
He had been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) during a sting operation in a cash-for-votes scam, and could only attend the wedding after securing conditional bail.
He alleged that the then BRS government had hired top lawyers to delay his release and prevent him from getting bail.
Despite “enduring hardships” under the previous regime, Revanth Reddy said he had chosen restraint over revenge against his political opponents.
“If I were vengeful, the situation today would be entirely different. Who is truly vindictive and who is not? Let the people decide,” he remarked.
He said he had no need to take action against his political opponents as they had already suffered divine retribution.
“On the very day I was sworn in as chief minister, the head of that family [K Chandrashekar Rao] met with an accident at his farmhouse and was hospitalised,” he noted.
In response, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao questioned whether Revanth Reddy had been jailed for fighting for the nation.
“In fact, I was the one who spent time in Warangal Jail for taking part in the Telangana agitation,” he countered, adding that he was unafraid of imprisonment.
“If he keeps heaping abuses on us, they turn into blessings for us. Already, the people are realising the kind of chief minister that Revanth Reddy has become,” Rao further asserted.
He further questioned whether it was true that the chief minister was known as “Rifle Reddy”.
“During the days of the Telangana movement, Revanth Reddy took a rifle with him to crush a protest organised by Telangana activists,” he alleged.
Rao asserted that the chief minister was evoking sympathy by recalling his time in jail, as people were growing angry over the broken promises he had made on the eve of the Assembly elections.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
