You know it's an unusual to strike a day when an Indian politician does not trend on social media. Mostly, for the wrong reasons. But Tathagata Satpathy, an MP from Dhenkanal in Odisha, is being lauded on Reddit after he confessed to smoking weed.
93 percent Reddit users 'upvoted' the thread. What 'Like' is to Facebook, 'Upvote' is to Reddit.
The BJD leader, who is 58 years old, conducted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit on Sunday. He spoke about land acquisition act, reservation and decriminalising cannabis among other things.
So, why did he do it?
This is what he says on the forum: "At the outset, I would like to tell you why I am doing this AMA. This young man /u/kumbhakaran (I wonder why but he prefers not to be named) who works with me and helps me with my legislative work requested me to do this. I agreed.
After hearing about this AMA format of interaction, I thought it would be a good way to know what people think of the present situation in India. Your questions might be a link to finding solutions to issues that are uppermost in the minds of people of a certain creed.
Being selfish, I would like to use these inputs sometime in Parliament. I am not sure how this could help improve the overall situation (or solve problems) but Reddit could prove to be an alternative communication channel for me. I am not on Twitter or Facebook. I like the anonymity that Reddit offers. Therefore I have dared to do this AMA here. "
The MP proved to be witty and candid. Check it out for yourself.
The MP is clearly a fan of Pink Floyd:
He uses cool phrases and italicizes them:
He confesses to smoking weed:
When Reddit user 'eepsu' asked him about cannabis legalization, the MP not only said that it was legal in the state or Odisha, he also admitted to smoking marijuana in his youth.
And, here's what people thought about him:
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