Kishan Reddy Targets Congress, Calls Telangana an 'ATM'
Synopsis
Union Minister and BJP Telangana president G. Kishan Reddy accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Rahul Gandhi of treating Telangana as an 'ATM', calling Congress corrupt and declaring the party could be uprooted if the BJP chose to act.
Key Takeaways
Union Coal and Mines Minister G.
Kishan Reddy posted a sharp attack on the Congress government in Telangana on 3 November 2026 .
He accused Revanth Reddy and Rahul Gandhi of converting Telangana into their personal 'ATM' through alleged corruption.
The post was addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah , signalling a nationally coordinated political messaging push.
Reddy claimed even the Telangana Youth Morcha president alone is enough to defeat Congress in the state.
Congress won the Telangana assembly elections in December 2023 , defeating the incumbent BRS; BJP has since been building its opposition profile in the state.
The attack fits BJP's broader southern-states playbook of sustained anti-Congress messaging ahead of future electoral cycles.
Union Coal and Mines Minister and BJP Telangana state president G. Kishan Reddy launched a sharp broadside against the state's ruling Congress government on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, accusing Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of treating Telangana as a personal 'ATM' — and warning that the BJP could uproot the party 'roots and all' if it chose to.
The Charge: 'ATM Politics' and a Ventilator Jab
Reddy's post — addressed pointedly to Union Home Minister Amit Shah — contained some of the sharpest imagery yet from the BJP's Telangana unit against the Congress dispensation. 'Congress leaders are indulging in corruption wherever they find an opportunity,' he wrote in Telugu. The line that hit hardest: 'Telanganu Revanth Reddy, Rahul Gandhi ATMgā mārcāru' — 'Revanth Reddy and Rahul Gandhi have turned Telangana into an ATM.'
Reddy also questioned whether a party he described as being 'on a ventilator' could keep pace with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He went further, claiming that even the president of the Telangana Youth Morcha alone would be sufficient to defeat Congress in the state — a rhetorical flex designed to diminish the ruling party's electoral standing ahead of any future contest.
BJP's Long Game in Telangana After 2023
The backdrop matters. Congress swept into power in Telangana in December 2023, defeating the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samithi after a decade in government. The BJP, which had been building its presence in the state, found itself in opposition alongside the BRS — an unfamiliar position in a state it had long seen as winnable.
Since then, Kishan Reddy — wearing both the Union Minister hat and the Telangana BJP chief's cap — has been the party's primary attack voice against the Revanth Reddy government. BJP state units in southern India have adopted a consistent playbook: keep the pressure on Congress governments through sustained public messaging, frame every governance misstep as corruption, and build the narrative infrastructure for the next election cycle.
Anchoring the post to Amit Shah is itself a signal — it projects the Telangana campaign as part of a nationally coordinated political effort, not a local skirmish. Shah is the BJP's chief electoral strategist and routinely frames state-level contests as extensions of the party's national mission.
What Comes Next
The Congress government in Hyderabad is yet to formally respond to the latest salvo. With Telangana's next assembly election still years away, these exchanges are the terrain-building phase — each attack designed to plant doubt, each rebuttal to shore up a voter base. BJP's bet is that consistent pressure compounds. Congress's bet is that governance results speak louder than opposition rhetoric. Both sides know the scoreboard gets settled at the ballot box — and the counting has already begun.
Point of View
Not just a local concern. BJP's challenge in the south has always been converting rhetorical energy into organisational depth; the reference to the Telangana Youth Morcha suggests the party is betting on cadre mobilisation as its core differentiator. If Congress fails to rebut these charges with visible governance wins, the 'ventilator' taunt could acquire a life of its own in the state's political lexicon.
NationPress
3 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Kishan Reddy call Telangana a Congress 'ATM'?
Kishan Reddy used the 'ATM' metaphor to allege that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Rahul Gandhi are exploiting Telangana's resources and public money for personal or party gain — a rhetorical attack framing the Congress government as corrupt.
Who is Kishan Reddy and what is his role in Telangana politics?
G. Kishan Reddy is the Union Minister of Coal and Mines and simultaneously serves as the BJP's Telangana state president, making him the party's most prominent face in the state's opposition politics.
When did Congress come to power in Telangana?
The Indian National Congress won the Telangana assembly elections in December 2023, defeating the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samithi and forming the government with Revanth Reddy as Chief Minister.
Why was this post addressed to Amit Shah?
Addressing Union Home Minister Amit Shah publicly signals that the BJP's Telangana campaign is part of a nationally coordinated strategy, lending central-party weight to state-level political attacks on Congress.
What is the BJP's strategy in Telangana after losing the 2023 elections?
BJP has adopted a sustained messaging campaign — framing the Congress government as corrupt and ineffective — while investing in cadre-building through youth wings like the Telangana Youth Morcha, positioning itself for the next assembly election cycle.
