My political views anti-BJP as they're behind many communal riots in India: Raghu

On the last day of Lamakaan’s eighth-anniversary celebrations, Raghu Ram, a television producer and actor, best known for judging the popular show MTV Roadies, was invited to share his journey of transformation — from being a nobody to finding success. And once he started narrating his life-story, it became clear that there’s a lot more to Raghu than what meets the eye.

The reality TV star quickly made his way to the stage and asked, “Ikkada Andariki Telugu Vaccha (Does everybody know Telugu)?” “Yes!” roared the packed venue. Soon after greeting the audience, Raghu described how he went from being a television presenter to taking the political plunge. Of course, his monologue was heavily peppered with his typical dark, candyfloss humour.

Interestingly, although Raghu shot to nationwide fame with his out-of-the-box reality show, it was really frustrating for him to be labelled as a “failure” in school. “I was successful in the television industry only because I was a college dropout. I was a poor student and was bullied as a kid. And at a time when my life hadn’t even started, my teachers branded me a failure. It had a strong bearing in my television career and my journey into politics,” he recalled, adding, “I excelled in my TV stint and became successful and proved everyone else wrong.”

Talking about politics, for someone who never voted as a youngster, what transpired Raghu to get into this realm? “When the Anti-Terrorist Squad Chief, Hemant Karkare sacrificed his life during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, I experienced mixed feelings of fear, anger, helplessness and hopelessness; and I cried for three days. Every year, I visit Mumbai and light candles in memory of those who died in the blast. Since then my political views are anti-political, and against the BJP in specific, because they have been behind several communal riots in India,” shared Raghu.

He further added, “Soon, I quit the television industry and supported independent candidate Mallika Sarabhai in the Delhi general elections and later the Aam Aadmi Party.”

After Raghu shared important instances from his life, the floor was opened for questions from the audience. To a question on how people arrive at a conclusion in the digital world, Raghu replied, “We need charismatic leaders who can influence scores of people. People think that they have contributed a lot to the cause just by sharing a Facebook post or a WhatsApp message. But real issues like caste politics, land grabbing, corruption, etc. need to be dealt with pertinently, especially in the rural areas.”

Throughout the evening, whenever Raghu drew analogies between animals and politicians while referring to the concept of bullying, the house broke into laughter. His statement, “we are still identified as a community and not as a country”, drew a thunderous applause.
Post the session, he bonded with the crowd and happily clicked selfies with them.