Controversial Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP JC Diwakar Reddy is in the news yet again, this time with a bizarre claim.
A former Congress leader and a six-time MLA, Diwakar Reddy joined the TDP in 2014, given the political circumstances. The Congress had lost its chances of winning a seat in Andhra after the state’s bifurcation. Diwakar then contested and won as an MP from Anantapur.
Diwakar, popularly known as JC, speaking during a protest in Visakhapatnam, advised former All India Congress Committee (AICC) Chief Sonia Gandhi to get her son, Rahul Gandhi, married to a Brahmin girl so that Rahul can become Prime Minister.
JC claimed that he told Sonia Gandhi that if Rahul Gandhi was to become the Prime Minister in 2014, it was important to capture Uttar Pradesh and get the support of Brahmins.
In a video doing the rounds on social media, JC can be seen saying, "Asking her (Sonia) not to bifurcate the state, I told her that her son could not become PM like this (by bifurcating the state). I suggested that one needs support from Uttar Pradesh.”
Terming Uttar Pradesh a state where Brahmins hold the power, he said that he advised Sonia to marry Rahul off to a Brahmin woman from the state.
“In this (Andhra) state, one can come into power with the support of Kamma, Reddy and Kapu communities but in UP, the Brahmins hold the power. Therefore, you see one nice Brahmin girl and marry him off. He will become PM. When I gave such advice, she laughed and brushed it aside."
He also alleged that the Congress bifurcated the state with political and selfish intentions.
Diwakar Reddy made headlines in June last year when he was caught on camera pushing around staff members of IndiGo airlines at Visakhapatnam airport. The MP also damaged a printer.
Following the incident, he was banned from flying by multiple domestic airlines. However, the ban was later revoked though he did not offer an apology.
The MP, a businessman and the co-owner of Diwakar Travels, had also created a ruckus in October 2016 at the Gannavaram Airport in Vijayawada.