Andhra Pradesh witnesses a 'war of oaths'

Visakhapatnam: 'Ottesi oka maata, veyyakunda oka maata' goes the dialogue in a popular Telugu movie Chatrapathi.

Of late, a few political leaders, both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, are taking a cue from the film as they seek divine intervention, 'swearing' in the name of Gods and Goddesses.

Making tall statements fails to hold much significance these days unless and until they are accompanied by an 'oath'. For a few who want to emphasise that they are free of any allegation, swearing on God has become a way of life.

Now the oath-taking ritual seems to be trending in both the Telugu-speaking states.

Earlier, it was between the BJP Telangana state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar who challenged Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to take an oath of truth at Bhagyalakshmi temple in Hyderabad Old City for making false allegations to malign the image of BJP ahead of GHMC polls.

Similar trend seems to be followed even in Andhra Pradesh.

After engaged in a war of words, the differences between former TDP MLA N Ramakrishna Reddy and YSRCP Anaparthi MLA Sathi Suryanarayana Reddy reached a crescendo in East Godavari district. Both of them sought divine intervention to defend themselves against corruption allegations by swearing at Bikkavolu Lakshmi Ganapathi temple.

The tradition of swearing in the name of Gods did not stop there. In Visakhapatnam, similar trend is gaining momentum between the YSRCP and the TDP.

Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy alleged that Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu amassed benami assets and the latter reacted and challenged the MP to prove the same by swearing on Shirdi Saibaba at East Point Colony temple. "I threw a challenge at the MP not at YSRCP leader Akkaramani Vijaya Nirmala," clarifies the MLA when Vijaya Nirmala along with party workers readied for the challenge.

Responding to Ramakrishna Babu's remarks, the MP stated that the MLA is not worthy of considering the challenge. In continuation with this, Anakapalle MLA Gudivada Amarnath brought another God into the picture. "If there is any trace of truth in Ramakrishna Babu's statements, he should prove so by swearing on Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy of Simhachalam," Amarnath demanded.

Meanwhile, carrying a portrait of Saibaba, Vijaya Nirmala turned up at Shirdi Saibaba temple along with the party supporters. They waited for the MLA's arrival in vain and later headed to his camp office. On the other hand, TDP leaders reached MLA's camp office in support of Ramakrishna Babu.

They wondered why the YSRCP cadres were reacting when the challenge was thrown at MP Vijayasai Reddy.

A challenge that started between an MP and an MLA has ended up between the two parties. At present, swearing in is trending in AP and TS as the political leaders consider it an effective tool to dust off the allegations levelled against them.