HYDERABAD: With Joe Biden’s inauguration as the next US President on January 20, far away from Washington, in a tiny village in Telangana, there is a celebratory atmosphere. The villagers of Pothireddypeta in Huzurabad of Karimnagar district have just woken up to the fact that Joe Biden’s speechwriter Cholleti Vinay Reddy’s roots are in their village.
“I am thrilled that my uncle is Joe Biden’s speechwriter and is working for him. My family and our relatives are feeling very happy about it,” said Cholleti Sai Krishna Reddy, a relative of Vinay Reddy. The talk in the village was only about Vinay as groups of people gathered and discussed how important a position he was going to hold in the Joe Biden administration.
Sai Reddy’s family takes care of the nearly four acres of land that Vinay Reddy’s father has in the village. The land is a joint family property that belongs to them.
The village sarpanch, Thatikonda Pullachari, is even more thrilled as he had worked with Vinay Reddy’s grandfather Thirupati Reddy during the mid-1980s. Thirupati Reddy was the village sarpanch then. “Since I was active, he used to make use of my services for the village,” Pullachari said about Thirupati Reddy.
Thirupati Reddy’s son Narayana Reddy, who is a doctor, migrated to the US and settled there. A few months ago, Narayana Reddy had sent an amount as a contribution to the construction of a temple in the village. “I thanked him for immediately responding to my request,” Pullachari said.
No one in the village knows Vinay Reddy as he was born in the US. But the village is elated because of the importance that he has got in the US. In February 2020, Narayana Reddy had visited the village.