Daughter a K-Pop fan, we are a K-family: KTR

Hyderabad: The first thought that crossed everyone’s mind after the dust settled over the freak mishap involving BRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday was about the plight of the driver who had applied brakes suddenly, causing the mishap in which the minister had a miraculous escape.

But, providing an insight into his affable nature, the minister told Deccan Chronicle that it was his mistake to rush the driver in a narrow lane in Armoor that led to the incident. He was eager to complete the visit and take the helicopter to fly to Kodangal for a campaign meeting, Rama Rao explained.

He also thanked his gunman for swiftly reacting and holding him from the back, that stopped him from falling off the vehicle. He said he was fine, except for a sore back.

The minister took part in the Guest Editor programme of Deccan Chronicle here on Friday and shared his personal choices, likes, dislikes and compulsions as a politician doing something which he otherwise would never like to do.

“I am left with no option because the rival parties have been taking my good nature as incompetence,” he said, defending his recent practice of abusing the BRS’ political rivals in harsh language. He was pained at some Opposition leaders hurling abuses at his father and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and wanted to retort to them in their own language.

 “The Opposition accuses of us being autocratic but we all know what is happening in other states for trolling the ruling party and its leaders,” he said.

He also gave credit to his team for some of the punchlines that he used against the Opposition, even while taking credit for coining the “Ratentha Reddy” (What is the rate, Revanth Reddy; a term coined to accuse PCC chief A. Revanth Reddy of selling party tickets)

So how would he reboot his positive energy and recast his mind – spending quality time with family, in particular his daughter Alekhya, a K-pop generation teenager. “My daughter and I dance as if nobody is watching,” he said, a smile lighting up his face.

Asked about his shaking a leg for the highly popular campaign song ‘Gulabila Jendale Ramakka’, Rama Rao says it was just a trailer and there were more catchy campaign songs to come.

Rama Rao refused to take credit for ‘Ramakka’ and corrected the impression that it became popular because it was used in the party campaign. “It was written by five home-makers,” he said. “We picked it after it became a huge hit on social media.”

Rama Rao revealed that his family’s Whatsapp’s group was ’K-group,’ though now they had come up with a 2.0 version. Asked who was being his success, he said it was his mother Sobha Rao, wife Shailimi, daughter Alekhya and several others. “Give a bit of credit to my father also,” he said.

On a serious note, he said he had grown up in Hyderabad, befriending people from all regions without asking about their religious beliefs and their caste. He was frightened to see the attempts to divide society vertically for political gains and their impact on the generations to come.  

Asked about his much anticipated elevation as Chief Minister, Rama Rao quickly responded: “Our leader KCR is healthy and is going to achieve a hat-trick, a feat no South Indian Chief Minister has achieved.”