In politics, you usually see the ruling party fight its main local rival in a direct, face-to-face battle. But in Telangana, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is playing a completely different game. Instead of fighting the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) directly, he is cleverly using the power, rules, and offices of the BJP-led Central Government to do the heavy lifting for him.
Revanth has spent his tenure mastering a far more sophisticated maneuver know as “institutional triangulation” in political science.
By dragging the Central government into local issues, Revanth puts the BJP in a tough spot where they have no good choices. If the BJP takes action, they end up destroying Revanth’s main enemy, the BRS. If the BJP stays quiet, Revanth can blame them for neglecting Telangana or protecting corrupt leaders.
Here is how Revanth Reddy is using this smart strategy across different issues:
>> The Maharashtra Appointment Issue: Revanth publicly complained that Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis (who is from the BJP) is refusing to give him an appointment to discuss the Tummidihatti barrage construction. Revanth then asked local BJP leader & Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy to help get the meeting. This is a trap: if the BJP helps, Revanth takes credit for bringing water to northern Telangana farmers. If the BJP fails, Revanth can tell voters that the local BJP has no real power and that the BRS failed to handle this project correctly in the past.
>> CBI Probes into Kaleshwaram and Power Deals: BJP has spent years calling the BRS-era Kaleshwaram irrigation project highly corrupt. Revanth’s government officially asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate Kaleshwaram and past power purchase agreements. Now, the ball is in the BJP’s court. If the CBI investigates quickly, the BRS leadership gets into legal trouble right before local elections. If the CBI delays, Revanth can claim that the BJP and BRS have a secret deal to protect each other.
>> The Formula E Case against KTR: When investigating BRS leader K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) for alleged financial mistakes in the Formula E race, Revanth did not use state police to arrest him immediately, which could look like a personal political attack. Instead, he sent the file to the Governor (who is appointed by the Centre) for permission to prosecute. This shifted the pressure to the Governor’s office. Since there was a delay in getting approval, Revanth kept blaming the Centre for stalling.
>> The Phone-Tapping Case: When the questioned about delays in arresting a former SIB Chief Prabhakar Rao who left for the US during the phone-tapping scandal, Revanth shifted the blame to Delhi. He stated that the state police could not move faster because the Central government was not using its international diplomatic channels to bring the accused back. This turned a local police matter into a failure of central cooperation.
>> Paddy Procurement Disputes: When farmers are getting angry about delays in buying their crops, Revanth’s government pointed out that the delays were caused by central rules on rice storage and central funds. By doing this, he safely moved farmer anger away from the state government and targeted the central ministries instead.
>> CBSE Row: Revanth has aggressively linked KTR to Globarena, the company blamed for the tragic 2019 Telangana Intermediate results mess. Now that the same firm – rebranded as Coempt – is handling digital evaluation for the CBSE nationwide and facing massive backlash over errors, Revanth has thrown a massive curveball. By publicly demanding to know why KTR and Harish Rao are not asking Prime Minister Modi for a CBI probe into this company, Revanth pulls a double-move: he reminds voters of the 2019 tragedy under BRS rule, while simultaneously forcing the national BJP to either investigate a company they just gave a massive contract to, or look like they are actively shielding a “KTR-linked” entity.
>> Harish to join BJP : By telling Harish Rao to “swear in the name of KCR” that he won’t leave, and dropping hints that he knows exactly “who Harish Rao is speaking to” in the BJP, Revanth is using the BJP as a psychological tool to create paranoia inside the BRS first family. Revanth isn’t just waiting for the BRS to fall apart; he is actively using the BJP to shake the internal foundations of the BRS and turn their top leaders against each other.
By making sure that every major local fight involves a central agency or a BJP leader, Revanth Reddy avoids a direct battle.
This is called socialisation of conflict by political scientists. If a weak or newly installed actor (Congress in Telangana) is stuck in a grueling local fight with an entrenched opponent (BRS), the smartest strategy is to “socialize” the conflict – meaning, you deliberately drag external, more powerful actors into the arena to change the balance of power. By involving the Governor, the CBI, the High Court, or Central Ministries, Revanth expands the boundaries of a local Telangana fight into a national, institutional arena where BRS loses its home-turf advantage
He forces the national ruling party to either help him weaken the BRS or take the blame for stopping Telangana’s progress. Either way, the political profit goes straight to Revanth Reddy.
