Two top journalists in the Telugu states, who were once close associates, have locked horns over AP Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Senior journalist and Indian Journalists Union president K. Srinivasa Reddy was in Vijayawada the other day, where he addressed a meeting of the Andhra Pradesh Working Journalists Union.
Srinivasa Reddy criticized Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for neglecting journalists and their welfare.
He also criticized the chief minister for harassing journalists in different forms, including the accreditation cards.
His friend and one-time associate in the journalist movement, Devulapalli Amar, responded strongly, condemning the statements of Srinivasa Reddy.
Amar, who is now the media advisor to the AP government, said that Srinivasa Reddy had come to AP to serve the political interests of TDP Chief N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Amar also blamed Srinivasa Reddy for not raising the same questions to the Telangana state government and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Ever since Jagan Mohan Reddy became the chief minister of AP in May 2019, these two top journalists have been at loggerheads, with Amar supporting Jagan and Srinivasa Reddy criticizing.
The fight between these long-time comrades started with the AP government issuing a GO to regulate the media.
The government issued GO No. 2430 on October 30, 2019, giving powers to the secretaries of the departments to issue rejoinders to the media, file police complaints against the media for defamatory reports.
While Srinivasa Reddy condemned it, as an advisor, Amar had to back the state government and justify the GO.
Since then, the two senior journalists have been at loggerheads, and the latest meeting triggered major controversy.
It remains to be seen where these two former colleagues in the media will take this war to!