Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy declared on Thursday, 3 September that no one can intimidate him and that he answers to no one — remarks delivered hours after he dropped minister Konda Surekha from the Cabinet following clearance from the Congress high command. Speaking at a public meeting in Hyderabad's old city, Revanth Reddy said he can be won only through friendship, not pressure.

The Defiant Remarks

'Nobody can cow me down. You can win me only with friendship. I am ready to do anything in friendship,' the Chief Minister told the gathering. He added: 'I am not a slave to anybody. I am a slave only to friendship.' The remarks carried pointed significance — they came hours after Surekha publicly accused him of blackmailing the Congress high command to engineer her removal from the Council of Ministers.

Revanth Reddy also signalled no intention of stepping back from politics. 'I have to be amidst you for another 25 years. I have not entered politics to go back,' he told the crowd.

Konda Surekha Dropped From Cabinet

Earlier on Thursday, after the Congress high command gave its approval, Revanth Reddy formally wrote to the Governor of Telangana recommending the removal of Konda Surekha from the Council of Ministers. Surekha had alleged that the Chief Minister was pressuring the party's central leadership to oust her — a charge that Revanth Reddy's public posture on Thursday appeared to rebuff without directly addressing.

Flyover Inauguration and Owaisi's Endorsement

The public meeting was held on the occasion of the inauguration of the Chanchalguda-Santoshnagar Steel Flyover, a 3.32-km, four-lane structure built at a cost of ₹620 crore. The Chief Minister inaugurated it alongside Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi.

Owaisi made a notable political statement during the event, saying that AIMIM is supporting the Telangana government because of Revanth Reddy personally — not because of the Indian National Congress (Congress). He thanked the Chief Minister for releasing funds and granting approvals for development works in the old city, noting that the flyover's construction — whose foundation stone was laid by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government — only commenced after Revanth Reddy released the necessary funds.

Owaisi also credited the Chief Minister for sanctioning ₹2,200 crore to resume stalled Metro Rail connectivity to the old city and approving a cable bridge across Mir Alam Tank at a cost of ₹400 crore.

On Unity, Patriotism and the Owaisi Brothers

Revanth Reddy dismissed allegations that AIMIM or the Owaisi family are anti-national. 'Some people say AIMIM and Owaisi are against the country, but I have seen how he came out in support of the Indian Army during Operation Sindoor. We may have political differences, but nobody can suspect the patriotism of Asaduddin Owaisi and Akbaruddin Owaisi. They are no less patriots than Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,' he said.

The Chief Minister asserted that Telangana will progress only when Hindus and Muslims move forward together, and reiterated that he would focus on development and reserve political rhetoric for election season.

Opposition Targeted Over Musi Project

Revanth Reddy criticised the opposition BRS and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for what he called deliberate obstruction of the Musi Rejuvenation project, describing it as a prestige initiative aimed at creating a night-time economy for Hyderabad and generating jobs for the city's poor Muslim community.

He also announced that the Metro Rail project connecting Gowliguda to Chandrayanagutta would be completed before the next Assembly elections, and pledged to travel to the old city on the Metro Rail to campaign for votes.