Hyderabad: The Telangana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has raised a red flag over what it described as the disturbing emergence of a parallel, extra-constitutional power structure within the state’s governance. The party has alleged that the Congress government, led on paper by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, is in fact being remotely controlled by the Congress state in-charge, Ms. Meenakshi Natarajan, effectively reducing the democratically elected chief minister to a symbolic figurehead.
In a sharp and detailed statement to the media, BJP’s state chief spokesperson and media-in-charge, N.V. Subash, pointed to what he termed as “a blatant and unconstitutional usurpation of administrative authority” by Ms. Natarajan. He cited multiple instances where she is reportedly holding meetings with government ministers and senior bureaucrats inside the state secretariat—an action, he said, that reeks of backdoor governance and a complete undermining of democratic norms.
“If this isn’t an example of extra-constitutional authority operating in full swing, then what is?” Subash questioned.
“We have a situation where a person with no constitutional post in the state is seemingly calling the shots, while the elected Chief Minister appears to have been reduced to a puppet.”
According to Subash, the Congress high command’s appointment of Ms. Meenakshi Natarajan as the party’s in-charge in Telangana is no mere political strategy, but an attempt to ‘assist’ or rather ‘supplant’ the elected leadership in handling the state’s day-to-day affairs—something that is increasingly being done from the Congress headquarters at Gandhi Bhavan instead of the state’s administrative machinery.
“The people of Telangana are not blind,” he said. “They are beginning to ask a very valid question: Do we really have a Chief Minister? Or are we being governed by a shadow authority that operates behind the scenes?”
Subash further claimed that the Chief Minister’s own lack of command over the state’s administrative machinery is becoming increasingly evident. Citing recent media reports, he noted that the state’s Irrigation Secretary has allegedly been ignoring calls from Revanth Reddy regarding the issuance of a Government Order (GO) related to the Sitharam Lift Irrigation project. Even more alarming, he added, is that cabinet ministers reportedly find it difficult to access top bureaucrats—an indication, he said, of a fractured chain of command and dysfunctional governance.
“In any functioning democracy, this kind of dual power structure is not just unacceptable, it is dangerous,” he asserted. “It dilutes the authority of elected representatives and hands over power to unelected individuals who are neither accountable to the people nor to the legislature.”
The BJP leader also criticized Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s alleged failure to act decisively on key issues affecting the state. “He seems more preoccupied with managing the Khammam and Nalgonda political lobbies than actually governing the state,” Subash said, suggesting that factional politics within the Congress is taking precedence over public welfare.
In a broader condemnation of the Congress government’s policies, Subash lambasted the recent decision to clear trees from approximately 400 acres of forest land adjacent to the University of Hyderabad—an action the BJP says was carried out without proper environmental clearance and against the interests of the student community. He accused the government of high-handedness in dealing with student protests, stating that such actions only reflect the administration’s arrogance and disregard for public sentiment.
“This is not governance. This is chaos masquerading as administration. The people of Telangana deserve better. They deserve a government that is transparent, accountable, and run by those who have been democratically elected—not remote-controlled from a party office,” he said.
The BJP, Subash reiterated, strongly condemns what it views as the rise of an unconstitutional authority in Telangana and warned that this sets a dangerous precedent for democracy in India. “The Congress party must come clean: Is Telangana being governed by the Chief Minister elected by the people, or by someone who answers only to 10 Janpath? The people are watching, and they will not forget.”
He concluded by urging the citizens of Telangana to remain vigilant and hold the ruling party accountable for what he described as a betrayal of the democratic mandate.
