BJP Telangana President N Ramachander Rao hit back at Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over his remarks that “Shiva is the Bhagwanof the poor, while Rama is the Bhagwan of the rich”, accusing the Congress party of pursuing a “divide and rule” policy and attempting to divide even Hindu Bhagwans.
“The vicious Congress party thrives on divide and rule. They divided our motherland, our people on the lines of caste, region, and religion and now they want to divide even our Bhagwans. Shame! Divide Hindus and unite Muslims. CM Revanth Reddy’s remarks reflect Congress party’s deep, decades-long hatred towards Hindus,” said N Ramachander Rao.
N Ramachander Rao alleged that these comments are being made for the Muslim vote bank with the Khairatabad election in view, Ramachander Rao called upon BJP workers to organise protest programmes across the State against Revanth Reddy’s comments.
The comments made by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, referring to the BJP, that “Shiva is the Bhagwan of the poor, while Rama is the Bhagwan of the rich” have led to a political controversy. He stated that the reason for the BJP’s electoral victories in North India is that the party has ‘made Sri Rama its own’ (or ‘taken Rama away’). He said that Rama is respected in North India, while Shiva is worshipped in South India.
The vicious Congress party thrives on divide and rule.
They divided our motherland, our people on the lines of caste, region, and religion and now they want to divide even our Gods. Shame!
Divide Hindus and unite Muslims, CM Revanth Reddy’s remarks reflect Congress party’s… pic.twitter.com/2UirZNARMJ
— N Ramchander Rao (@N_RamchanderRao) September 29, 2026
The BJP strongly condemned these comments, alleging that Revanth Reddy is attempting to create division among people for political benefits. A political controversy erupted over Chief Minister Revanth Reddy making highly controversial comments in a manner that creates even a class conflict between Bhagwan within Hindu society.
Speaking at the Pratidin Conclave of an Assam daily in Delhi on September 29, on the subject ‘India’s Next Chapter’, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said: “We are Dravidians. The people here (North India) are Aryans. We are devotees of Shiva. They are devotees of Sri Rama. The BJP has taken Rama to its side. That is an emotion, a sentiment. Why does Modi ji not say ‘Har Har Mahadev’? Have BJP leaders ever said ‘Har Har Mahadev’ on stage? They only say ‘Jai Sri Ram’. They do not like it when we say ‘Har Har Mahadev’.”
“Shiva is the Bhagwan of the poor, Rama is the Bhagwan of the rich, and similarly, the BJP is the party of the rich,” Revanth Reddy further stated.
The Chief Minister made these comments in response to a question on why the Congress is popular in South India compared with the northern, eastern and western regions of the country.
Revanth Reddy also said that, similar to the ‘Simon Go Back’ movement during the freedom struggle, another movement could emerge in the country against the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) process.
He called upon Opposition leaders such as Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray and M.K. Stalin to unite to organise the ‘SIR Go Back’ movement. He alleged that SIR is intended “to remove votes and benefit the BJP”.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar reacted strongly to Revanth Reddy’s comments. In a post on X, he lashed out at Revanth Reddy, who had earlier said ‘Muslim means Congress, Congress means Muslim’, saying that he is now drawing political boundaries between Sri Rama and Shiva.
CM Revanth Reddy who says ‘Muslim is Congress, Congress is Muslim’ is now drawing political boundaries between Lord Ram & Lord Shiva.
Being the CM of Telangana that has “Dakshina Kashi” at Vemulawada and “Dakshina Ayodhya” at Bhadrachalam, Revanth Reddy should know better than… pic.twitter.com/CdxMEb2aq3
— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (@bandisanjay_bjp) September 28, 2026
“As the Chief Minister of Telangana, which has Dakshina Kashi in Vemulawada and Dakshina Ayodhya in Bhadrachalam, Revanth Reddy should know that Sri Rama and Shiva should not be divided as North and South,” he said. “Shiva drank Halahala and became Neelakantha. Today, Congress is preparing its own Halahala: caste against caste, North against South, and now Shiva against Rama,” he alleged.
The Union Minister of State reminded that PM Narendra Modi represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha and that Kashi Vishwanath is the spiritual centre of Varanasi. “Modiji is the first Prime Minister after Independence to visit Sri Rajarajeshwara Swamy in Vemulawada, that is, Shiva,” he stated.
“Vishnu is in the heart of Shiva, and Shiva is in the heart of Vishnu. That is Sanatana Dharma. If you ask, ‘Do BJP leaders ever say Har Har Mahadev?’, here, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself says those words. Therefore, Hindus should recognise the divisive politics of Congress. Har Har Mahadev. Jai Sri Ram,” he said.
BJP Telangana Assembly Floor Leader and MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy also criticised Revanth Reddy’s remarks, saying, “The Chief Minister seems to have lost all sense of reality and is resorting to blatant lies. Bharat’s civilizational unity is far deeper than politics. It cannot be broken by such dumb theories. Trying to divide people through an artificial North–South divide is a desperate political tactic. Isn’t Bhadrachalam in our Telangana? Our history, culture and civilizational bonds have never been defined by such narrow political theories.”
