HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday likened the BJP to Ravana and the Congress to Rama, urging people in Goa to defeat the BJP and vote for the Congress.
Addressing the concluding meeting of the ‘Goem Rakhnno’ Yatra, he said the BJP had turned Goa into a hub for drugs and accused the saffron party of allowing the state’s land and image to be compromised. The padayatra began in Panaji on September 22, ahead of the Goa Assembly elections expected in early 2027.
Questioning the BJP’s claims of working towards a ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’, Revanth asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had failed to curb the drug trade in Goa. “Is this a good image for Goa? You have to decide,” he said, asking why Goa CM Pramod Sawant had not acted against drug peddlers despite the BJP being in power in both Goa and at the Centre.
Pointing to the measures employed by the Telangana government to curb drug use and sale, Revanth said the state had formed the EAGLE Force and deployed it in a covert operation to eradicate drugs.
The chief minister also alleged that valuable land in Goa was being alienated. Recounting a conversation with some residents, he said they had referred to Sawant as “Property Sawant”. “If the BJP is elected for a third term, it will not leave any land in Goa and will sell it to others,” he alleged, accusing the party of allowing pollution to worsen, damaging Goa’s image and letting the drug trade flourish.
Asking people to vote for the Congress, Revanth warned that votes for regional parties, Independents or individual candidates would ultimately benefit the BJP.
Voting for BJP again will spell disaster for Goa, says Revanth
Revanth urged voters to support the Congress to defeat the ruling party and cautioned that another BJP term would have serious consequences for the state. He claimed that the Congress was working to unite people and is committed to challenging the BJP politically and defeating it.
Revanth alleged that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Income Tax Department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), which he collectively referred to as “NICE”, were functioning as the BJP’s frontal organisations. “The BJP earlier relied on agencies like the ED, I-T Department and CBI to win elections. Now, it is using a new method involving Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission of India,” he charged.
Revanth said he had travelled to Goa on behalf of Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who was occupied with ongoing protests in Delhi.
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge had called him late on Saturday night and asked him to address the meeting on Rahul Gandhi’s behalf, he said.
Expressing confidence that the Congress would return to power in Goa in 2027, he said he sensed the same optimism that he had witnessed in Telangana before the Congress won the Assembly elections in 2023.
