Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s choice of words during campaigning has landed him in fresh trouble.
Trying to portray YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as a criminal, the CM, during his election speeches in Allagadda in Kurnool district, had asked the electorate whether they would vote for kasailu (butchers). He had, in fact, used the word in several meetings. Upset with the CM’s usage of the word in a negative connotation, a delegation of ‘Are Katia Porata Samiti’ lodged a complaint against the CM with the EC, urging stern action against him for belittling a particular caste.
Maintaining that the ‘Are Katika’ caste is also called kasailu, the Samiti said that it was below the dignity of someone like the CM to look down on a particular caste and belittle it. It amounted to violation of the poll code, the Samiti leaders pointed out. The Samiti demanded a public apology and war-ned that it would ask the people not to vote for the Congress if the CM did not apologise within 24 hours