Leading the charge for the Congress, Anumula Revanth Reddy is in line to become the next Chief Minister of Telangana. According to the reports, Reddy is expected to take CM’s oath on the 7th of December. In the midst of this, a video of him is making rounds on social media in which he can be seen making caste-based remarks against former Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR).
In a discussion with India Today in November, Reddy asserted that the first CM of Telangana, K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) has ‘Bihari genes’ and indicated that he was a better choice for the state than KCR. “My DNA is Telangana. KCR’s DNA is Bihar. He belongs to Bihar. KCR’s caste is Kurmi. They migrated from Bihar to Vijayanagaram and from there to Telangana. Telangana DNA is better than Bihar DNA,” he can be heard saying.
A portion of the three-weeks-old video interview was shared by Minister Kiren Rijiju who criticized the leader for making caste-based comments against other state leaders. “Even before becoming the Chief Minister, he showed the character of his party and leader. Is the DNA of Bihar inferior to the DNA of Telangana?” he tweeted.
मुख्यमंत्री बनने से पहले ही उन्होंने अपनी पार्टी और नेता की चरित्र दिखा दी।
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) December 5, 2023
बिहार का "डीएनए" तेलंगाना के डीएनए से कमतर है? pic.twitter.com/96o3XsjyQ8
Rijiju also indicated that Reddy who is scheduled to take oath as CM of Telangana on 7th December, made unwise remarks against the state of Bihar in a bid to boost himself as a better choice for the position of Chief Minister of the state of Telangana during the campaigns.
The video shared by Rijiju is from the India Today Roundtable discussion Telangana which was held in mid-November ahead of the state assembly elections.
The oath-taking ceremony of Reddy is likely to take place on 7th December at the LB Stadium in Hyderabad. The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), led by Chandrasekhar Rao, lost power to the Congress party under Reddy’s direction. The BRS has held power since 2014.
Earlier, Reddy thanked the national Congress leaders for supporting him throughout the campaign in the state and called Congress’ Sonia Gandhi ‘Mother of Telangana’. “I wholeheartedly express my gratitude to honorable AICC president Kharge ji, Mother of Telangana our beloved Sonia amma, ever inspiring leader Rahul Gandhi ji, charismatic Priyanka Gandhi ji, AICC General Secretary (Org) K C Venugopal ji, deputy CM of Karnataka D K Shivakumar ji and Incharge General Secretary- Telangana and last but not the least our congress soldiers who stood by us through thick and thin (sic),” he said.
I wholeheartedly express my gratitude to honourable AICC president
— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) December 5, 2023
Shri @kharge ji, Mother of Telangana our beloved #Soniamma , ever inspiring leader @RahulGandhi ji, charismatic @priyankagandhi ji, AICC General Secretary (Org) @kcvenugopalmp ji, deputy CM of Karnataka… pic.twitter.com/Kl50cQHxih
It is amusing that Revanth Reddy has no problem hailing Italian-born Sonia Gandhi as ‘Mother of Telangana’, but he thinks he is somehow genetically, and racially superior to KCR because KCR’s ancestors allegedly came from Bihar to settle in the southern state, making them inferior than Reddy to become Telangana’s CM.
Revanth Reddy, a seasoned politician and Malkajgiri Lok Sabha MP, has played a crucial role in Telangana politics. In 2017, he moved from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to the Congress, which brought about a dramatic change in the political landscape of the state.
Reddy is currently the face of the Congress in Telangana and has been an MLA twice. His aggressive campaign tactics and direct confrontations with Chief Minister KCR have won him over supporters and established him as a possible candidate for chief minister.