Hyderabad, September 2: The Telangana BJP strongly condemned Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s remark that “Maoism is an ideology and no one can destroy it,” calling it a blatant distortion of history and a dangerous attempt to glorify left-wing extremism.
In a hard-hitting statement, BJP State Chief Spokesperson and Media Chief N.V. Subash said: “Revanth Reddy has displayed shocking ignorance of history and political reality. Maoism is not a romantic ideology, it is a violent, extremist movement that has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, including many Congress leaders. To describe it as indestructible ideology is not just irresponsible, it is an insult to the sacrifices made by security forces and civilians who fought against left-wing extremism.”
On 1 September, Revanth Reddy, while speaking at a felicitation programme in Hyderabad for INDIA alliance Vice-President candidate Justice Sudarshan Reddy, said: “Naxalism is a philosophy, not an individual. If you do not agree with a philosophy, you can argue and win over it, but you cannot finish it.”
CM Revanth Reddy says “Naxalism is a philosophy & cannot be finished”
So for Congress, killing innocents is “philosophy” not terrorism? pic.twitter.com/B1DsOWfcvD
— Janta Journal (@JantaJournal) September 2, 2025
Subash reminded the Chief Minister that several leaders in the past had made similar mistakes and later corrected themselves. “Even his own mentor, TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao, once described Maoists as ‘true patriots’ (Desa bhakthulu) but was forced to retract after realizing the destructive nature of their violence.
Former Chief Minister Dr. M. Chenna Reddy allowed Maoists to hold meetings briefly as part of a strategy to identify their leaders, but eventually had to impose strict restrictions. Successive governments, both Congress and TDP, had to confront the menace, often at great cost,” he pointed out.
The BJP leader also exposed Revanth Reddy’s ignorance of his own party’s history. “Does he not know that it was former Congress Chief Minister N Janardhan Reddy who imposed the ban. Later, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy who pursued a calibrated ‘carrot and stick’ policy? He first invited Maoists for talks and later launched decisive operations that nearly wiped-out left-wing extremism in the state. Can Revanth Reddy deny these fact?” Subash asked.
Subash further reminded that several Congress leaders themselves were victims of Maoist attacks. “How can the Chief Minister overlook the fact that his own partymen were brutally killed by the same extremists? To glorify such forces as ideological is both naïve and insensitive,” he added.
At the same time, Subash clarified that while Maoism may have originated decades ago with slogans like “land to the tiller” during a period of feudal exploitation, over the years it degenerated into a ruthless terror outfit. “Today’s Maoists are no different from any terrorist group. They loot banks, destroy public property, extort from contractors, and kill innocent civilians. Calling this ‘ideology’ is nothing but whitewashing terror,” he asserted.
The BJP demanded that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy immediately withdraw his statement and apologize to the people of Telangana. “Instead of romanticizing a bloody and failed movement, the Chief Minister should stand by the people, the police, and the Constitution,” Subash said.
Critics argue that, at a time when Maoists are being wiped out through Operation Kagar, calling ‘Naxalism a philosophy’ amounts to giving legitimacy to Urban Naxals, a dangerous interpretation by CM Revanth Reddy.
Justice Sudarshan Reddy is alleged to be closely linked with the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, known as the legal wing of the Maoists. As a lawyer, he represented more than 100 cases involving security operations and police actions against Naxals. His role in the Supreme Court judgment on Salwa Judum—a tribal youth movement in Bastar recruited by the state to fight Maoist insurgents—was seen as giving fresh life to the Maoists after two decades of setbacks.
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