Slogans vs Reality: Congress crackdowns on farmers, Dalits expose hollowness of ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ event
As the Congress government hosts a ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ event in Hyderabad, its actions—ranging from police excesses to suppression of dissent—stand in stark contrast to the Gandhian, Ambedkarite, and constitutional values it claims to uphold
Hyderabad: Even as the Congress government prepares to drape itself in the moral legacy of ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ with a public event to be attended by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge here on Friday, its 19-month track record stands at odds with the ideals it seeks to champion. From lathi-charging farmers and handcuffing tribal protestors to rising attacks on Dalits, suppression of peaceful dissent, and growing curbs on media freedom, the regime’s actions have drawn sharp criticism for eroding the very Gandhian, Ambedkarite and constitutional values it claims to uphold.
The violation of Gandhian values, especially of ‘ahimsa’, is evident in the use of excessive police force against peaceful protestors, including students, farmers and families of police constables, and even in the assault on poor tribal women in Kothagudem last month.
The disregard for Gandhian values, even while raising slogans of ‘Jai Bapu’, is further reflected in the Congress government’s neglect of Panchayat Raj institutions, where even routine services have come to a halt due to the delay in releasing funds to gram panchayats. The moral principles Gandhi advocated are also nowhere to be seen when a government that claims it lacks funds to pay salaries to even municipal sweepers spends extravagantly on beauty pageants (read Miss World) and party events (read Bharat Summit).
On the other hand, the hollowness of Revanth Reddy’s men shouting ‘Jai Bhim’ is exposed in the very fact that his government, within days of coming to power, froze the accounts of beneficiaries and put on hold Dalit Bandhu, a scheme appreciated across the country for uplifting the lives of poor Dalits. That is not all. Dalit organisations have repeatedly flagged police high-handedness, from a woman being subjected to third-degree torture in the Shadnagar police station, to a Dalit man being dragged in his innerwear in Nirmal, quite ironically, on Ambedkar Jayanti.
The violation of the third component of the slogan, ‘Jai Samvidhan’, has been spearheaded by the Chief Minister himself, who visited the residences of opposition MLAs and invited them to switch loyalties. The matter reached the Supreme Court, with the BRS, which lost at least 10 MLAs to blatantly open horse-trading by the Congress, repeatedly pointing out how Revanth Reddy & Co were violating the spirit of the Tenth Schedule (Anti-Defection Law). The BRS has also flagged how the delay in conducting local body elections, despite constitutional provisions mandating timely polls, amounted to a violation of constitutional democracy.
The abuse of the Constitution does not end there. Attacks on media freedom and on anyone who dares to criticise the government or the Chief Minister are at an unprecedented high under the Congress regime. For that matter, the Chief Minister himself had threatened to “strip and parade” anyone abusing his family. In what way his tone and tenor, and that of his government in all the above-mentioned instances, align with the spirit of the ‘Jai Samvidhan’ slogan is a question Congress president Kharge must answer on Friday.
Instances of Congress hollowness while shouting ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’:
• September 19, 2024 – Farmer leaders and Dalit protesters in Kodangal (CM’s constituency) seeking crop loan waiver were detained en masse, blocked from reaching Praja Bhavan. The police resorted to house arrests and barricades
• March 31, 2025 – Students from the University of Hyderabad protesting the auction of Kancha Gachibowli forest were subjected to police detentions and lathi charges
• July 24, 2024 – A Dalit woman in Shadnagar was subjected to third-degree torture in police custody, allegedly forced to confess to theft
• March 13, 2025 – Cybercrime Police in Hyderabad arrested Pulse News MD P Revathi and reporter Bandi Sandhya over a critical video on Revanth Reddy
• March 15, 2025 – At a Legislative Assembly session, Revanth Reddy threatened to “strip and parade” anyone, particularly media figures, using “abusive language” against his family
• May 28, 2024 – Adilabad – Farmers at seed distribution centres for subsidised cotton seeds and manure were lathi-charged by police due to overcrowding and frustration over delays
• November 2024 – Lagacherla – Farmers protesting land acquisition for a pharma hub were subjected to forceful police action
• May 2024 – Farmers in Adilabad, frustrated with delays in Rythu Bandhu, were dispersed with lathi charges
Handcuffs Regime:
• Lagacherla: December 12–13, 2024 – Heerya Naik, a farmer arrested during protests against land acquisition for a Pharma Village, suffered chest pain while in Sangareddy jail. He was taken to a local clinic and then to Sangareddy Government Hospital in handcuffs and chains, escorted in a police vehicle, not an ambulance
• Jogulamba Gadwal: June 17–18, 2025 – 12 farmers from Rajoli protested against an ethanol plant near Pedda Dhanwada; arrested and even after being granted bail on June 17, they were paraded in handcuffs to Alampur court on June 18
• Kothagudem: June 20, 2025 – Tribal women who opposed Forest officials digging trenches in podu lands where they were cultivating, were assaulted, abused, their clothes torn and allegedly threatened of molestation
