By Sfoorti Mishra

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS): Politicians don't often talk about topics like daily soaps aired on Indian television. But Jannayak Janata Party founder and Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala has opened up about his favourite daily soap character. Any guesses?

Chautala on Thursday informed a gathering of 500 students at the 10th edition of Bhartiya Chhatra Sansad (Indian students' parliament) at Vigyan Bhawan here that 'Tulsi' aka Smriti Irani from the popular daily soap 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu thi' was his favourite character.

"I still remember when I was very young, I used to sit next to my mother and watch 'Tulsi' on TV every evening," he said.

The topic of the debate at the event was 'Learn before you lean' -- the impact of social media in today's time and blindly following celebrities on social media.

While addressing the gathering, Chautala said, "Who can be a better example than Smriti Irani when we talk about this topic? She has been a celebrity as well as a politician, and she has done exceptionally well in both the jobs. Who can forget 'Tulsi'? And now she is serving as a minister."

The JJP leader also credited the RSS for her good performance. "She could do both the jobs exceptionally well because she was associated with the RSS. She has been associated with an ideology from the beginning. One should follow some ideology or the other. It can be any ideology of your choice, but you must follow one. Otherwise you will become direction less," he told the students.

One of the youngest leaders in the country, Chautala (31) also expressed his concern about the communal debates that have become common on social media.

"I just don't want to see any communal divide in the society. People these days have many divisions. We are jaats, and even jaats are further divided into other sub-castes. I feel worried when such things happen in the country," he said.