It is a known fact that Andhra Jyothy managing director Vemuri Radhakrishna is an out and out Telugu Desam Party campaigner.
His weekly column “Kotha Paluku” is known for his sharp bias — venom against Jagan, devotion toward Chandrababu Naidu.
Despite knowing that his comments on Andhra Pradesh politics are totally one-sided, his column has a wide readership because of the subject he chooses and the daring statements he makes, which perhaps are not seen in any other newspaper.
On Sunday, Radhakrishna’s column was a big hit, because of his incisive comments against senior actor and Telugu Desam Party MLA from Hindupur assembly constituency – Nandamuri Balakrishna, for his nasty comments and discourteous behaviour in the state assembly.
Even social media activists, who usually tear apart his writings, have praised this article in their posts. To put it bluntly, he virtually stripped Balakrishna bare.
Normally, people hesitate to write critically about Balakrishna, but Radhakrishna — who himself belongs to that camp — hit him hard, without any hesitation.
He said it was not what Balakrishna said, but the way he behaved in the assembly was atrocious.
“This isn’t his first term as MLA — it’s his third. Can we assume he doesn’t know assembly decorum? Speaking with sunglasses pushed up on his head and both hands in his pockets is a clear breach of legislative etiquette,” he said.
Radhakrishna said calling a fellow member ‘psycho’ in the full House, talking with hands in his pockets and sunglasses on his head was certainly objectionable.
“Many feel Balakrishna lacks situational sense. It’s hard to predict what he will say at any given moment. His remarks might amuse his fans, but why would others appreciate them?” he asked.
The Andhra Jyothy MD observed that perhaps Balakrishna might have forgotten that the same Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, whom he called ‘psycho’ in the assembly, was once the president of the Balakrishna Fans Association in Kadapa district.
“If Balakrishna exercises restraint before speaking, it will only enhance his respect. No member should be addressed in the singular in the assembly. Yet, Balakrishna used words like ‘vaadu’ and ‘veedu’ (derogatory singular pronouns),” he said.
It was the responsibility of either chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu or speaker Ch Ayyannapatrudu to tell Balakrishna that his behaviour was wrong.
“As an actor, Balakrishna can behave as he likes, but as an MLA, he cannot say, ‘I’ll do what I want.’ He must abide by the traditions and values of the assembly,” RK said.
According to reports, to prevent the Balakrishna episode from snowballing, Chandrababu Naidu visited actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s residence — who is reportedly down with fever — under the pretext of a courtesy call and spent over an hour there. There’s also talk that he phoned Chiranjeevi to pacify him as well.
Interestingly, Radhakrishna revealed yet another unknown fact.
“It’s not just Balakrishna — even when former MP K. Keshava Rao’s son, now in the Congress, was involved in a shooting incident, it was Y S Rajasekhar Reddy who saved him. Whether it was right or wrong to let him go despite knowing his guilt is a different matter,” he said.
