Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has called on the Centre to consider nominating Bandaru Dattatreya, the current Governor of Himachal Pradesh and a veteran leader from Telangana, for the post of Vice President of India. Addressing the media in Delhi on Wednesday, Revanth Reddy described the resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar as an “unfortunate development” but emphasized that the vacancy presents an opportunity to give due recognition to leaders from Telangana, especially those from the Backward Classes (BC) community. He underscored that the state’s contribution to national politics has often been overlooked.

Revanth Reddy cited past examples of neglect, pointing out that M. Venkaiah Naidu, a prominent Telugu-speaking leader who served as Vice President, was denied elevation to the role of President. Similarly, Bandaru Dattatreya, despite his long-standing service as a Union Minister and senior BJP leader from Secunderabad, was appointed as Governor rather than being considered for higher constitutional offices. The chief minister alleged that the BJP has systematically sidelined BC leaders, referring to the replacement of Bandi Sanjay Kumar as the Telangana BJP president by upper-caste leaders such as G. Kishan Reddy and N. Ramchander Rao.

Highlighting Dattatreya’s contributions and leadership qualities, Revanth Reddy suggested that nominating him as Vice President would be a “respectful and corrective gesture” toward BC leaders who have long been overlooked in the national political landscape. He added that Dattatreya’s term as Governor has already ended, making this the right moment for such recognition. While making it clear that the final decision lies with the Congress high command and the larger political consensus, Revanth affirmed his support for Dattatreya’s candidature if the proposal gains momentum.