Revanth's Maha Dharna Evokes Big Response In Delhi

Hyderabad: The Congress’ “maha dharna” at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday drew widespread attention, as political leaders, activists, and supporters united to demand a 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BC). Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy led the protest, sitting for over four hours alongside his entire Cabinet, party MLAs, MPs, and senior leaders. TPCC president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud and representatives of various BC organisations also took part.

AICC leader Rahul Gandhi was unable to attend, having travelled to Jharkhand for the funeral of former chief minister Shibu Soren.

The demonstration saw solidarity from I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies, with leaders from the DMK, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and Samajwadi Party in attendance. In their speeches, Congress leaders praised Revanth Reddy’s unwavering commitment to the BC reservation issue. AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan recalled Vinoba Bhave’s land-donation movement and highlighted how a Telangana landlord contributed land to that cause. She commended Revanth Reddy, despite his own Reddy caste background, for championing legislation to secure 42 per cent BC reservation, calling it “a story for the history books.”

NCP MP Supriya Sule lauded Revanth Reddy’s journey from activist to Chief Minister as proof of his dedication to the oppressed, comparing his legacy to that of Ambedkar and Karunanidhi. DMK MP Kanimozhi urged immediate passage of the BC-quota bills and cited Tamil Nadu’s 69 percent BC reservation as a model, pledging her party’s full support for Revanth Reddy’s efforts.

In a fiery address, Revanth Reddy criticised both the BJP-led Central government and the BRS leadership for opposing enhanced BC quotas. He warned that if the Centre fails to approve the increase, Congress will unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next elections. “Under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, we will raise the tricolour at the Red Fort and secure the BC quota,” he declared to thunderous applause.

Revanth Reddy also recalled then-Prime Minister Vajpayee’s demand that Modi resign after the 2002 Gujarat riots, questioning Modi’s moral responsibility for his refusal. He dismissed BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s claim that the party cannot win more than 150 seats without Modi, predicting instead that the BJP will fall below that threshold.

Turning his sights on BRS, Revanth Reddy derided K.T. Rama Rao as “Drama Rao,” accusing the family of theatrics rather than genuine support for BC rights. He underscored the significance of Telangana’s recent caste census and BC-quota bills, achievements he said no other state had managed in the past century. “In 70 years and over 300 chief ministers, no one has passed BC reservation bills within a year of taking office, except me,” he asserted.

The dharna concluded with a massive display of unity