Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 29 : BJP Telangana spokesperson NV Subhash on Tuesday criticised Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over his recent remarks concerning Lord Rama and Lord Shiva, alleging that the Chief Minister was attempting to divert attention from issues concerning the state government.
“The Chief Minister of Telangana, Revanth Reddy, is a perpetual, controversial candidate who always wants to cover up his failures in Telangana. For the past 30 months, the schemes that were supposed to be implemented in the state could not be fulfilled because of a lack of focus on development,” Subhash said.
He alleged that Reddy was attempting to raise religious, regional and caste-related issues and criticised the Chief Minister over his remarks about the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoking Lord Rama while allegedly ignoring Lord Shiva.
“He wants to divide people on a sentimental, religious, regional, and caste basis. A new agenda has now been introduced by Revanth Reddy, claiming that the BJP and PM Modi always chant 'Sri Ram' while ignoring 'Har Har Mahadev',” Subhash said.
“The BJP Telangana strongly condemns these controversial statements, which will provoke unnecessary law and order situations in the state and elsewhere in the country,” he added.
Subhash also questioned the Telangana government's work in Bhadrachalam, referring to the temple town as “Dakshina Ayodhya”, and alleged that funds meant for the area had not been released.
“We ask Revanth Reddy: what has he done for Bhadrachalam, known as Dakshina Ayodhya, where the Ram temple has been established for centuries? The funds that were supposed to be allocated have not been released,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Reddy also criticised the Chief Minister over the remarks, alleging that Reddy's comments reflected a lack of understanding of India's geographical and cultural diversity.
“CM Revanth Reddy's statement yesterday is unfortunate. I think he has no basic knowledge about this country, the basic geography of this country. Ram is a North Indian God and Shiv is a Dravidian God is what he said yesterday,” Prakash Reddy said.
He referred to religious sites including Mount Kailash, Kedarnath and Badrinath while questioning the Chief Minister's remarks.
“He is a blind follower of Rahul Gandhi and his philosophy. If you are speaking this ignorantly, it will hamper the integrity, unity, and diversity of this country,” he said.
Prakash Reddy further alleged that Reddy was following interpretations of Indian history that were propagated during British rule.
Meanwhile, BRS spokesperson Ravula Sridhar Reddy targeted the Chief Minister ahead of his scheduled visit to Sircilla on September 30.
“Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is going to Sircilla tomorrow. He should answer the people about his government's performance and the pending implementation of the promises made during the last elections,” Sridhar Reddy said.
Calling Sircilla a hub of the textile industry, he also sought clarification over allegations concerning land in the region.
“The Chief Minister had announced in the Assembly that thousands of acres of land were taken away by BRS leaders. He should also clarify who took the land and how many acres were involved,” he said.
Revanth Reddy is scheduled to visit Sircilla, a constituency represented by BRS working president KT Rama Rao, as part of his political and government outreach.
The land issue has emerged as another point of contention between the Congress government and BRS. Reddy had alleged in the Telangana Assembly that thousands of acres of government land had been taken away in Sircilla, while BRS leaders have sought details of the alleged land transactions and challenged the government to substantiate the claims.