‘Aap mere se hi judo’: Modi’s offer to Revanth Reddy raises eyebrows

Political sparring often reflects political maturity. A well-timed repartee can reinforce a demand, convey a subtle warning and when delivered with political finesse, carry layered messaging. Such an exchange played out on Sunday at the HICC between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

While Modi seized the opportunity to deliver a killer punch, all Revanth Reddy could do was to sport an embarrassed smile.

In an apparent attempt to make a light-hearted pitch for greater Central assistance, Revanth Reddy reminded Modi that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had extended substantial financial support to Gujarat when Modi was its Chief Minister. Drawing a parallel, the Telangana Chief Minister suggested that the Centre should now similarly support



Telangana.

“I am prepared to allocate the same quantum of funds that were given to Gujarat. But let me remind you, if that is done, Telangana will receive only half of what the Centre is allocating to the State now,” Modi remarked with a smile, even as he pointedly observed that Telangana would otherwise struggle to realise its ambitious goal of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2034.

“You will not be able to achieve this,” Modi said, before delivering the final political punchline from the stage: “Aap mere se hi judo.”

The Prime Minister’s remark elicited an embarrassed smile from Revanth Reddy. But this camaraderie was widely interpreted as a symbolic display of bonhomie between the “Bade Bhai” and the “Chote Bhai” of Indian  politics.