The newly elected Telangana Chief Minister, A. Revanth Reddy, has shed light on the political storm through his alleged comment on the “Bihari DNA” of the former Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
According to the report by the PTI, while talking to the journalists, Revanth Reddy allegedly said that he was a better choice than the former CM. “My DNA is Telangana. KCR DNA is from Bihar. He belongs to Bihar. KCR’s caste is Kurmi. They migrated from Bihar to Vijayanagaram and from there to Telangana. He has the “Bihari DNA,” and Telangana DNA is better than Bihar DNA,Reddy said.
After the casteist remark by Revanth, former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Your Chief Minister calls one region’s DNA weak and makes very shameful casteist remarks against his own party leaders [who are in Bihar]. This is very unfortunate.” Moreover, he also said that the comment by Revanth sounded “very shameful, divisive, and arrogant.”.
VIDEO | "Congress leaders are trying to create division in the country. Revanth Reddy, who was sworn in as CM of Telangana, said that 'their DNA is better than Bihar's DNA'. Before that, a Congress MP said that there is a 'north-south' divide. Nobody in the Congress has asked… pic.twitter.com/WFFSHeHEYJ
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 7, 2023
It is noteworthy that in 2015, when PM Modi made a similar comment on Bihari DNA, Union Minister Ravi Shankar, actually defended PM Modi.
Also Read: Telangana: Former CM KCR Elected Leader Of The Opposition
Bihar’s DNA Debate Resurfaces, Ignites Electoral Intrigue
This is not the first time “Bihari DNA” was used as a metaphor for “DNA.” In the past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while attacking Nitish Kumar at the rally in Muzaffarpur on July 25, said that it seemed that there was “some problem with Nitish Kumar’s DNA, referring to the frequent change of political allegiance of Nitish Kumar. At that, Nitish sent an open letter to Modi saying that his “DNA remarks” had hurt people in Bihar and “weekend the collective faith of people” in the PM leadership.
#BREAKING Bihar: JD(U) supporters send hair & nail samples to PM @narendramodi as part of their Shabd Wapsi campaign pic.twitter.com/E8I6gc22MX
— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 11, 2015
Moreover, by representing the people of Bihar, Nitish at the time told the PM in an open letter that “your words have been taken as an insult by a large number of people in the state and beyond. And as a result, along with making the Narendra Modi-led NDA lose in Bihar, the Nitish ‘Shabd Wapsi’ gave 50 lakh samples [nails and hair] of people from Bihar, which were collected and dispatched to PM Modi.
Bihar Voters’ Dilemma: Will BJP Redemption Sway Elections?
The Bihar electorate faces a crucial decision as the Congress party’s impact unfolds in the upcoming elections. BJP, swift to counter Revanth’s remark, seeks redemption from 2015 allegations. The voters must decide whether to forgive BJP and allocate seats, signalling a potential shift in their favour. Alternatively, they may choose to reject national parties altogether, favouring regional players.
Meet Revanth Reddy, Congress’s CM elect, who thinks KCR is of inferior DNA, presumably because he is a Kurmi from Bihar, who migrated to Telangana…
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 5, 2023
Nitish Kumar, a Kurmi, and part of the I.N.D.I Alliance, should ask the Congress to clarify if they think he is of inferior DNA? pic.twitter.com/vNCITkN5Va
The unfolding political dynamics present a compelling choice for Bihar’s electorate, shaping the state’s political landscape in the imminent elections.
