Published May 18, 2026 | 7:38 PM ⚊ Updated May 18, 2026 | 7:47 PM
“Mere se jud jao” (“Join me”), Modi told Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at an official function on 10 May.
Synopsis: Revanth Reddy’s position bears some resemblance to that of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during his tenure as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 2019 and 2024. With multiple cases pending against him, Jagan was often accused by his opponents of going out of his way to maintain cordial relations with the BJP leadership at the Centre.
A tongue-in-cheek remark, but loaded with political messaging, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hyderabad a week ago has left both Congress and BJP functionaries in Telangana wondering about its deeper intent.
“Mere se jud jao” (“Join me”), Modi told Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at an official function on 10 May, in response to the latter’s appeal for greater support for the state from the Centre.
Only the naïve would dismiss the remark as trivial. It surely carried a political subtext, true to Indian politics, which often operates through layered public messaging.
Those in Revanth Reddy’s camp believe it amounted to an “open invitation” from none other than the Prime Minister himself.
BJP leaders, however, read it differently: a subtle reminder to the Chief Minister to stay within limits and maintain a cooperative equation with both the BJP and the Centre.
If only as a thought exercise, let us examine the plausibility of either scenario.
Also Read: His government’s chips are down but Revanth Reddy’s stock is up in Congress
In the first scenario, what would an “open invitation” to Revanth Reddy actually mean?
Could a sitting Congress Chief Minister abruptly switch to the BJP along with enough MLAs to facilitate the formation of a saffron government in Telangana?
The answer, at least for now, is a definitive no.
The BJP has only seven MLAs in the 119-member Assembly, while the Congress enjoys a comfortable majority with a little over 60 legislators.
Thus, the possibility of a two-thirds split within the Congress Legislature Party appears remote. In other words, the BJP may, for now, find Revanth Reddy more useful as a manageable Congress chief minister than as an immediate political target.
Would the BJP, instead, be interested in drawing Revanth Reddy closer when the next elections are due?
It is too early to speculate on what may transpire by 2028, but by then the Congress government would likely have accumulated its share of anti-incumbency and political baggage. If the BJP is serious about emerging as a viable force in Telangana, its political prospects would lie in attacking Revanth Reddy, not in being seen as aligned with him.
A senior BJP functionary offered an interesting assessment: Revanth Reddy’s utility to the BJP exists only as long as he remains Chief Minister – someone who can facilitate, or at least not obstruct, several initiatives pushed by the Centre, including those politically inconvenient for non-BJP parties.
Let us now consider the second scenario.
The real message, according to several BJP insiders, may have been: “Do not flex your muscles excessively.”
They argue that Revanth Reddy’s position bears some resemblance to that of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during his tenure as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 2019 and 2024. With multiple cases pending against him, Jagan was often accused by his opponents of going out of his way to maintain cordial relations with the BJP leadership at the Centre.
Though not on the same scale as Jagan, Revanth too is viewed as politically “vulnerable”, with the 2015 cash-for-vote case still hanging over his head. The matter has remained pending before the Supreme Court for years.
Moreover, given the BJP’s track record, it would not be difficult for the Centre to unleash investigative agencies against those close to Revanth, especially after two-and-a-half years in office, by which time enough material may already have reached Delhi.
Publicly, Revanth Reddy has little choice but to follow the Congress playbook and display unwavering loyalty to Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family. Informally and unofficially, however, he must be careful about how he responds to issues that could rile the Centre.
Unless an explicit political crisis emerges, it is unlikely that the Congress high command would contemplate a change in leadership in Telangana.
The more relevant question, however, is this: who is in a position to create such a crisis?
The answer is not difficult to guess. Which is why many political observers interpret Modi’s remark less as an invitation than as a calibrated signal.
Also Read: Nara Lokesh gets sage advice to tone down acts of political vendetta
In a statement that arguably crossed a line, BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind on Monday said he would not be surprised if “there is an understanding between Modi and Revanth”. He even drew parallels between Revanth and Suvendu Adhikari of West Bengal.
But there is a crucial difference. Neither Himanta Biswa Sarma of Assam nor Suvendu Adhikari was a sitting Chief Minister when they crossed over from rival parties to the BJP.
They revolted against their respective chief ministers and positioned themselves as alternatives.
The larger truth is that none in the Telangana BJP—neither MLAs nor MPs—has shown convincing evidence of mounting a sustained political challenge to the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government over the past two-and-a-half years.
The two Union Ministers from the state—G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar—are no exception.
This, then, brings us to the crucial question.
If the BJP seriously hopes to come to power in Telangana someday, a thorough clean-up and restructuring of the state unit may become inevitable.
At some stage, the party will have to decide who that leader is – one capable of executing a Himanta or Suvendu-style political project in Telangana.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
