BJP should apologise to people for appointing Vemula suicide accused as its Telangana chief: Congress

The Congress on Friday (July 11, 2025) urged the BJP to rethink the appointment of Ramchander Rao as its new Telangana unit chief since he was among the accused in the 2016 Rohith Vemula suicide case.

Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said Mr. Rao’s elevation had “once again proved that whoever goes against the Dalits and Adivasis will be rewarded by the BJP”.

Police’s clean chit

Rohith Vemula, a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad, had committed suicide over alleged caste discrimination. Last year, the Telangana Police had filed a closure report in court, giving a clean chit to all the accused, including Mr. Rao, who took over as the BJP State unit chief last Saturday (July 5, 2025).

Mr. Vikramarka said there should not only be a rethink on such appointments but the BJP should unconditionally apologise to the country.

He said Rohit Vemula’s suicide had shaken the conscience of the country and forced people to reflect on what was happening under the BJP rule. “He was a PhD scholar and was an active member of the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA). For the discrimination he was facing, he, along with a few friends, thought they would bring the issues to the attention of the university for the cause of self-respect and social justice for Dalits. When he [Vemula] was fighting for these causes, the student wing leader of the BJP, Susheel Kumar, filed a false case and brought a lot of pressure on the university authorities to book and rusticate the boys and shame them, and finally this led to the death of Rohith,” he alleged.

Then, BJP MLC Ramchander Rao came along with his “goons, did a dharna, met the Vice-Chancellor, and forced the authorities to take action against the ASA students, filing a false case too,” Mr. Vikramarka further alleged, adding that “such pressure ultimately led Rohith to take his life”.

The Telangana Deputy Chief Minister also claimed that Mr. Kumar, who was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader, has been appointed assistant professor at the University of Delhi.

“My appeal to all people is to think deeply about what’s happening in this country. The basic duty of the government should be to protect the lives, dignity and self-respect of every citizen of the nation,” Mr. Vikramarka said, adding, “What has been alarming is that the BJP is not just going against the Constitution; they are giving calls to change it.”