“You know nothing, you’re just dressed as a priest … You only have arrogance," yelled a mob leader, his anger directed at a cowering CS Rangarajan, the head priest of one of the most prominent Hindu temples in Telangana. The mob of men in black clothes and saffron shawls belong to the group that calls itself ‘Rama Rajyam Army,’ and their leader is the Hindutva extremist Veera Raghava Reddy. These visuals were uploaded and later deleted by Reddy’s organisation, whose brazen actions in the name of establishing ‘Rama Rajyam’ have left even radical right-wingers perplexed.
The attack on the hereditary archaka (priest) of the Chilkur Balaji temple, CS Rangarajan, has been condemned by leaders from across the political spectrum. On February 7, a mob of around 20 men and women led by Reddy showed up at Rangarajan’s residence, asking him to help them recruit members for their private militia and also raise funds for them. Reddy and his followers allegedly physically assaulted him when he refused help.
“I’m giving you time till Ugadi. Work towards establishing Rama Rajyam,” Reddy tells Rangarajan in visuals of the incident, threatening dire consequences otherwise. “None of these people are here for food or their families, they’re here to sacrifice their lives for dharma,” Reddy said, pointing to his supporters.
But according to the police, the ‘army’ members were mostly ordinary daily wage workers whom Reddy had recruited a few weeks ago, promising a monthly salary of Rs 20,000 along with food and accommodation. Ch Srinivas, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Rajendranagar, said, “Veera Raghava Reddy invited applications for security guard work with a registration fee of Rs 350, promising a salary of Rs 20,000. Around 200 people, mainly daily wage workers, paid the registration fees.”
On January 24, he gathered around 25 of these fresh recruits from Khammam, Nizamabad, and other places, in Andhra Pradesh’s Tanuku. According to the DCP, the group visited many prominent temples in Andhra Pradesh – Kotappakonda, Arasavalli, and even the famous Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada – with the same agenda of asking priests to help with recruitments, and fundraising from locally influential people. With the funds raised, the group got the uniforms made — black shirt and trousers, and a saffron scarf. From Andhra Pradesh, they arrived in Hyderabad on February 6, targeting the Chilkur Balaji temple the very next day.
During the confrontation, Reddy was heard making scathing remarks against the judiciary, saying politicians and priests have failed to protect Hindu dharma from India’s judges.
Who is Veera Raghava Reddy, what is the Rama Rajyam he wants to establish, and why is he going around intimidating Hindu priests?
‘A Rajyam with rulers, constitution, and citizenship’
Reddy’s organisation ‘Rama Rajyam’ is registered in the name of Kosalendra Trust. A native of East Godavari’s Anaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, he now lives in Hyderabad. His website and YouTube channel reveal his bizarre, extremist ideology.
Reddy is fixated on gotras, a Hindu system similar to clan or lineage. Whenever he speaks to someone on his YouTube channel, he begins by asking about their gotra. He then espouses his ‘knowledge’ of gotras – which gotras relate to which varnas, and the interlinkages between different gotras and castes. He has a habit of abruptly breaking into song – shlokas or devotional hymns – as he did even while threatening Rangarajan at his home.
Reddy believes that he is a descendant of the Ikshwaku clan to which the deity Ram is said to have belonged. He claims to have been sent by Lord Shiva to help establish ‘Rama Rajyam’. His idea of this ‘Rama Rajyam’ is quite elaborate. He has designed an extensive hierarchy down to the village level, and has thought of various departments including a ‘cow rescue team’.
He has even formulated a ‘constitution’ and ‘kingdom structure’ for the ‘Rama Rajyam’. The organisation has appointed ‘district rulers’ for each district in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It also has district-wise WhatsApp groups. One can even pay to register for citizenship of the Rama Rajyam Family.
In the past, Reddy has also appeared on popular right-wing content creator Vinod’s YouTube channel String, before the channel was removed by YouTube. However, following the attack, Vinod has distanced himself from Reddy, saying he had found his behaviour “impatient and radical”. He also alleged that Reddy has previously attacked many priests in the name of ‘Rama Rajyam’.
‘Here to skin the judiciary’
Reddy’s YouTube content and mission statements make his beliefs and goals clear. He believes that the justice system is responsible for upholding Hindu dharma, but has failed to do so.
His goal is to “establish a special military to seize temples, temple lands, and cow grazing pastures” in his mission to protect cows and the Hindu dharma.
In almost every video, he makes bitter remarks against the judiciary, while objecting to Article 124 (4) of the Constitution, which lays out the procedure for removing a Supreme Court judge from office.
He has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, former Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, among others. for not impeaching any judges while in office.
“Courts and police must establish dharma, but they have stopped doing that. It’s the job of the Union and state governments to remove them,” he told Rangarajan while intimidating him.
Rangarajan replied that he too was trying to establish Rama Rajya but by constitutional means, asking Reddy, “Does the Constitution ask you to take a knife and kill people?”
But Reddy became agitated, reprimanding Rangarajan for taking the legal route to achieve various Hindu causes, such as reclaiming temple lands. “All your writ petitions and special leave petitions are a waste … Judges are out of control with their unbridled protections. We are trying to break those protections, we are here to skin the judiciary, but you go and beg them with petitions,” Reddy said angrily.
He asked Rangarajan if he knew which gotras in the vicinity of the Chilkur Balaji temple were from the Kshatriya and Vaishya varnas. “Answer me!” he yelled, before saying, “You don’t know which gotras are Kshatriyas in your temple limits. It’s your job as a priest to identify them and build an army, but you’re not doing it. You only have arrogance.”
Rangarajan, who sat down meekly in the face of Reddy’s threats, said, “I can’t do this. I’ve failed your exam … I’m useless.”
Citing the Bhagavad Gita and the Constitution of India as if they were interchangeable, Reddy said that his army would act as per the Gita.
Reddy has two police cases against him in Telangana from a few years ago, according to Moinabad Inspector of Police G Pavan Kumar Reddy. One of the cases is related to harassing a woman, and the other is for obstructing a public servant in the discharge of their duties.
Following the attack on Rangarajan, six persons including Reddy were arrested. None of them are linked to any known right-wing outfits, the Inspector said. None of the recruits have received any salary from Reddy yet, he added.
Political reactions
Rangarajan is a vocal Hindu religious leader. The Chilkur temple itself is famously known as the ‘Visa God’ temple, due to a popular belief in the Telugu states that praying at the temple helps secure a visa to the United States of America.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has asked the police to take strong action against the alleged attackers. He spoke to the priest over the phone, offering assurance.
Earlier, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao had condemned the attack and criticised the Congress government for alleged inaction.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar too offered support to the priest. Jana Sena Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan too condemned the attack and demanded stringent action against the accused.
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Telangana publicity chief Pagudakula Balaswamy also condemned the attack.