Not since Winston Churchill, the late prime minister of UK have we seen politicians photographed with their private habits in the public domain.

The ‘British bulldog’ may have found his cigar smoking photographs send across a ‘rugged strongman determined to finish off the job’, look but seldom is any politician willing to take such risks with their public image.

Even fifty years after his death, the older generation of Indians still hesitate to talk about pictures of Jawaharlal Nehru that show him smoking. Indians naturally frown at such behaviour and politicians are seen to be very touchy about how they project themselves to their larger audience.

However, here is a pic-story that is doing rounds on social media in the Telugu states. KCR smoking on the banks of river Krishna! It is not every day that we come across a startling picture such as this one.

The Telangana CM had visited his AP counterpart to invite him for the ‘Aayudha Chandiyaaga’ ritual that he was preparing to undertake in his farm house close to Hyderabad. After the dinner with the host, KCR is said to have spent some time with his old friend Yanamala Rama Krishnudu on the banks of the river Krishna before boarding his helicopter.

A nosy photographer with a trigger happy finger seemed to have been in the right place at the right time. This opportunistic photograph of KCR with a cigarette between his lips is already creating a lot of buzz on social media.

While some say that the picture is not genuine or that there is some other object behind KCR that is creating this appearance of a cigarette, others say that KCR has kicked this old habit and doesn’t smoke anymore. The jury is still out...