When Bharat Rashtra Samithi was in power in Telangana, party president and then chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao used to entertain the audiences with his speech quoting interesting anecdotes from mythology and history.
Compared to KCR, the speeches of present chief minister A Revanth Reddy are a little boring, but of late, he, too, has learnt the tricks of the trade to attract audiences by referring to interesting anecdotes.
On Friday, Revanth Reddy recalled a couple of characters from Mahabharata to entertain the audiences at the thanksgiving meeting organised by the Telangana Madiga Employees Coordination Committee at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad.
He said he stood firmly with the Madiga community in their long struggle for Scheduled Caste (SC) sub-categorisation, likening his commitment to the loyalty displayed by Karna in the epic Mahabharata.
Revanth Reddy praised the Madiga community for their decades-long struggle seeking equitable representation within the Scheduled Castes.
He noted that many people had sacrificed their lives during the movement for sub-categorisation.
Recalling the Mahabharata, the chief minister said Karna and Barbarika were among his favourite characters.
“Karna stood by his friend Duryodhana till his last breath. In the same spirit of friendship and commitment, I stood by the Madiga community,” he said.
Despite facing pressure from various quarters, he said he continued to support the community’s demand.
“Many leaders and activists have fought for SC sub-categorisation. Telangana became the first state to announce implementation after the Supreme Court verdict,” the chief minister said.
Referring to another character from the Mahabharata, Barbarika, who vowed to support the weaker side in any conflict, Revanth Reddy said he too acted in the same spirit while working towards SC sub-categorisation.
Well, comparing himself to Karna and Barbarika is okay for Revanth Reddy, but analysts say it might also send a wrong message to the Madigas.
“If Revanth Reddy is Karna, then Madigas will automatically be compared to Duryodhana, who symbolises “adharma” (injustice), as he grabbed power from Pandavas by cheating them in the dice game,” an analyst said.
Secondly, Barbarika had sacrificed his head on the request of Lord Krishna to prevent destruction of Kauravas and Pandavas.
“Though Barbarika said he would stand by weaker sections, he could not do so because of his sacrifice,” the analyst said.