Hyderabad, July 30 -- Ever since Telangana Rashtra Samithi led by K Chandrasekhar Rao came to power in 2014, a new culture of sycophancy has crept into the political system: bathing the cut-outs and portraits of the chief minister with milk, a symbol of deification.

Personality cult is not new to Indian politics - it was there during Indira Gandhi regime in the past and is seen during the present Narendra Modi regime at the Centre. Back home, it was witnessed during the periods of N T Rama Rao and Y S Rajasekhar Reddy in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

But the "milk bath" culture was certainly a new phenomenon in the political system at least in Telugu states. There were instances of frenzied fans bathing images and giant cut-outs of popu...