A poll promise by Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar to woo young voters in Hyderabad seems to have turned into a source of hilarity on social media. From comic memes to satirical videos, a steady stream of jokes are being unleashed in the backdrop of Bandi Sanjay’s assurance to waive off pending challans for traffic violators if voted to power in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.
Recently addressing the media in Hyderabad, Bandi Sanjay said, “Youths are being targeted for triple riding in the state. The police are acting as per their wish in the name of challans. I promise this today, if the BJP is voted to power in the GHMC elections and we take up the Mayor seat, we’ll make sure all the challans will be paid off by the GHMC.”
Bandi alleged that a section of traffic violators hailing from Old City are let go without being fined/ challaned, while others are discriminated against.
Politicians do make promises, but Bandi Sanjay’s promise is garnering jokes and memes on social media. A clip of a popular scene from Ram Gopal Varma’s Anaganaga Oka Roju is being circulated to suggest what could happen if Hyderabad residents take the promise seriously, and end up talking back to the police. In the scene, when the police stop comedian Brahmanandam’s car for checking, he arrogantly tells them that he has the backing of a man called Nellore Pedda Reddy and is therefore beyond reproach. In spite of all the swagger, police carry him away and lock him up. This scene has been edited so that Brahmanandam says the name of Bandi Sanjay when asked for his vehicle registration documents, only to be whisked away regardless.
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In another comic episode telecast on Sakshi TV, a Telugu news channel, anchor Bittiri Satti claiming to be a “youth” rides a bike through the city with three friends riding pillion, only to be caught by a traffic policeman who asks them to pay a fine for reckless driving.
Satti asks the policeman if he knows that he is messing with “youths”, and that he has the backing of BJP leaders Bandi Sanjay and Dharmapuri Arvind. Satti repeats a famous line from Pawan Kalyan’s Khushi, where a goon makes a futile attempt to escape Pawan Kalyan by saying he has the backing of bigshots. In spite of his tall claims, he ends up getting beaten up by the hero anyway. Repurposing these lines, Satti says, “Bandi Sanjay anna malum tereku? MP Aravind saab malum tereku? Woh sab log mere peeche hain.”
Satti and his friends even shoot a video of the policeman and threaten to upload it on social media. Satti also claims that he is caught unnecessarily while going to meet Bandi Sanjay to put forward demands such as free petrol for youth, special tour packages and internet data package.
The comic video is being widely shared on social media by TRS and Congress supporters to mock the BJP, contending that the BJP leaders were being irresponsible and influencing youth wrongly in the run-up to the GHMC elections.
The GHMC polls are scheduled to be held on December 1 and election campaigning is in full swing in the city.