The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, 29 September 2026 launched a sharp attack on Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over his remarks drawing a religious and cultural distinction between North and South India, accusing him of attempting to divide communities for political advantage. Multiple senior BJP leaders responded to Reddy's comments, also invoking the Congress's earlier statements on Lord Ram.

What Revanth Reddy Said

Speaking at a media event in New Delhi on Monday, Reddy questioned the BJP's repeated invocation of the slogan 'Jai Shri Ram' while not similarly championing 'Har Har Mahadev'. 'We are Dravidians. Here (North India), people are Aryans. We are devotees of Shiva, while people here are devotees of Lord Ram. BJP stole Ram. It's an emotion; a sentiment. Why does Modi ji not say, 'Har Har Mahadev'? Have you ever seen BJP people say 'Har Har Mahadev' on stage? They only say, 'Jai Sri Ram'. When we chant 'Har Har Mahadev', they don't like it,' Reddy stated.

The Telangana Chief Minister also described Lord Shiva as the 'God of the poor' and Lord Ram as the 'God of the rich', adding that both are revered by people.

BJP's Immediate Response

BJP National Spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo criticised the remarks and referenced the Congress party's earlier position on Lord Ram. 'Just when one thinks Congress cannot stoop any lower, it does... How can they decide which God belongs to whom... This is the very Congress party which had once stated that Lord Ram is 'imaginary'... How can we expect anything better from them?... Congress does not need to give anyone a certificate about their faith based on the region,' Shah Deo said.

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain also questioned Reddy's comments. 'What kind of remarks are these? Congress had once passed an affidavit calling Lord Ram 'imaginary'. What is the point of North-South in this? They know that Congress has no future in the North; hence its leaders make such remarks,' he said.

Broader BJP Condemnation

BJP National Spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan questioned Reddy's understanding of the religious and cultural references associated with Lord Ram. 'Revanth Reddy does not know anything. Who was Shabari, who offered berries to Lord Ram? Who were the Kashyapas? I think he does not even know who Kevat was,' Paswan said, adding that 'people who practise appeasement are going to lecture us on this? They have no right to do so.'

BJP leader T.R. Sriniwas accused Reddy of reviving a divisive Aryan-Dravidian narrative. 'This statement has exposed him... I want to tell Revanth Reddy that if you think you can bring back the same Aryan-Dravidian narrative again, that is foolishness. Lord Shri Ram belonged to everyone and will continue to belong to everyone,' Sriniwas said, citing the Ramayana's geographical sweep from Ayodhya and Chitrakoot through Madhya Pradesh to Rameswaram and Lanka.

BJP leader Lanka Dinkar described the remarks as reflecting the 'ideological bankruptcy' of Congress leadership. 'If we observe the comments made by Congress leaders, from Rahul Gandhi to Revanth Reddy and B.K. Hariprasad, their ideological bankruptcy is clearly visible to the people of the country,' Dinkar said, adding that Reddy 'should understand how people connect with the spiritual divinity of God.'

Context and Political Significance

The row comes at a time when the BJP and Congress are locked in an intensifying battle over the narrative of cultural identity and regional politics. Reddy's framing of a North-South religious divide — invoking the Aryan-Dravidian binary — touched a particularly sensitive political nerve, drawing comparisons to debates that have historically shaped politics in Tamil Nadu and parts of South India. Critics argue such framings risk deepening regional fault lines, while supporters contend it raises a legitimate question about whose religious symbols dominate national political discourse.

The BJP's response consistently linked Reddy's remarks to Congress's earlier legal position in the Ayodhya case — where, according to BJP leaders, the party had described Lord Ram as a mythological figure — framing the current controversy as part of a pattern rather than an isolated statement. Whether the exchange reshapes ground-level sentiment in Telangana, where both parties are competing for Hindu votes, remains to be seen.