Panaji/Hyderabad, October 2026 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday launched a sharp political attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), portraying it as “Ravan” and the Congress as “Ram”, and urged voters in Goa to support the Congress in the 2027 Assembly elections.
Addressing a gathering as part of the Congress party’s Goy Rakhonn Yatra, Reddy said he was confident that the Congress would return to power in Goa. He claimed to sense the same optimism in the coastal state that he had experienced in Telangana ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, when the Congress defeated the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and formed the government.
“The story in Indian politics has a Ram and a Ravan. Ravan is BJP, which is dividing the people, and Ram is Congress. If the people want Ravan to lose, they have to support Ram in this fight,” a release issued by the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office quoted him as saying.
Reddy appealed to voters to support the Congress’s hand symbol and cautioned them against voting for smaller political parties that, he alleged, were being supported by the BJP to divide the opposition vote.
“They are here to divide the people. Any vote for them is a vote for BJP. This time, I urge the people of Goa to vote only for the Hand symbol,” he said.
The Telangana Chief Minister attended the programme as the representative of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had been scheduled to participate in the meeting but was required to remain in Delhi. Reddy said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had asked him to represent Gandhi at the event.
“Rahul ji told him that Congress party workers in Goa are waiting. I am here as a messenger and representative of Rahul ji,” he said.
Reddy described Gandhi as a leader working to unite people across the country, accusing the BJP of pursuing divisive politics. He also praised Goa Assembly Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao and Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar for organising the yatra.
Bringing greetings from Telangana, Reddy drew parallels between the Congress campaign in Goa and the party’s political mobilisation in his home state before the 2023 elections.
“As Chief Minister of Telangana, I bring love and greetings from the people of Telangana,” he said, adding that he had observed similar optimism in Goa. He expressed confidence that the Congress could replicate its Telangana electoral success in the coastal state.
Reddy further alleged that the BJP government in Goa should not be allowed to secure a third consecutive term. He accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of undermining democratic institutions and alleged that the Election Commission of India was being misused for political purposes.
Referring to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he claimed that the exercise was being used to remove voters opposed to the BJP, particularly among Dalits, Adivasis and minorities. These allegations were made by Reddy during his political address.
The Telangana Chief Minister also challenged Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant over the issue of drug trafficking and the state government’s campaign against narcotics.
He questioned why Goa had not achieved the objectives of the Centre’s “Nasha Mukt Bharat” initiative, alleging that the state’s drug problem persisted despite central agencies being under the BJP-led government’s control.
Reddy asked whether Goa’s association with drug-related concerns was damaging its image and demanded accountability from the state government.
The Goy Rakhonn Yatra formed part of the Congress’s political outreach ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly elections. Reddy’s remarks underscored the party’s attempt to mobilise voters around its campaign against the BJP, while projecting its Telangana victory as a model for its electoral ambitions in Goa.
