‘Politicians must try Twitter’

Hyderabad: It’s not every day that you’ll find politicians logging on to Twitter and opening a Q&A session. On Friday though, the state’s IT minister K.T. Rama Rao opened the floodgates as he welcomed questions ranging from generic civic issues, the state of the city’s roads to why there was a noticeable drop in masala in biryani served in Hyderabad.

A total of 3,000 questions were shot at the minister, 230 were answered and in nationwide trends Rama Rao found himself at the No. 3 spot. A few of the questions were strong, some downright silly but the politician believes it must be done.

“We’re in the age of digital democracy, thanks to social media. There’s unfettered access to the electorate. Yes, some questions were strange but then you also need a sense of humour to handle such queries. So I tried to be at my wittiest and sarcastic best. You have to admit, the biryani query was funny so it did catch my attention. There were hard questions too and I didn't dodge them. For example, this guy asked me about the police officer I had abused during the Telangana agitation and I apologised. I was caught in the heat of the moment, I admit,” the minister told DC.

So, will he recommend such a Q&A session to others?

“Definitely, I think my colleagues should take advantage of social media and use it to connect with the people. Besides the trolls and the funny ones, there is also great feedback to gather. So yes, I will recommend it,” he said.

The funnies
Q. Sir, no proper masala is added in biryani these days. Please take it up with Hyderabad restaurants.
KTR: Yeah, that’s my job man. Cmon

Q. Please provide Bahubali benifit show tickets?
KTR: Now this is stretching it

Q. What do you think of Ram Gopal Varma in one word?
KTR: Was a good director.

Q. I would like to know how you as a politician achieve work-life balance
KTR: Am tweeting at 9 pm on Friday night, so what balance?