A sharp article written by Andhra Jyothy Managing Director Vemuri Radhakrishna in his “Kotha Paluku” column on Sunday triggered strong protests from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders and cadres.
In his piece, Radhakrishna questioned the BRS’s authority to claim exclusive rights over the term “Telangana” and pointed out that the people had rejected the party in the recent elections, awarding it zero seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
He argued that criticizing the BRS does not equate to insulting Telangana, as the party and the state are separate entities. In fact, he noted, the BRS forfeited its moral right to claim ownership of the Telangana identity when it removed the word “Telangana” from its name.
Following the article’s publication on Sunday morning, Radhakrishna faced heavy trolling from BRS supporters online.
BRS leaders, asserting that Telangana is indeed the party’s legacy, demanded that Andhra Jyothy change its name to “Telangana Jyothy” if Radhakrishna truly cared about the state.
While the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government did not officially respond to the threats made against Radhakrishna on social and digital media, it did tighten security around the offices of Andhra Jyothy and ABN-Andhra Jyothy after receiving intelligence inputs about potential attacks by BRS workers.
A political analyst criticized the BRS’s stance, reminding that Andhra Jyothy had supported the Telangana movement before 2014, and that its editor had actively participated in pro-Telangana agitations.
“There are other newspapers such as Andhra Prabha, Andhra Patrika, and Vishalandhra that still carry ‘Andhra’ in their names. Why is BRS targeting only Andhra Jyothy?” he questioned.
Surprisingly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to Radhakrishna’s defense. Union Minister of State for Home, Bandi Sanjay, said the article was based on facts.
“Is Telangana KCR’s personal estate?” Sanjay asked, warning the BRS that any attack on ABN would not be tolerated.
He added, “If you think you can use your own media channel for propaganda, we can teach you a lesson too. KCR’s son still hasn’t shed his arrogance. If they attack others, they shouldn’t expect their own vehicles to move freely either. What Radhakrishna wrote is undeniably true. Where did the KCR family’s wealth come from — before and after Telangana’s formation? How many beatings did the KCR family actually endure during the agitation?”
Sanjay warned that if BRS workers attacked ABN and Andhra Jyothy, BJP workers would retaliate by targeting Telangana Bhavan.
BJP’s newly appointed Telangana president Ramchander Rao also issued a strong statement, criticizing the BRS leadership for its high-handedness.
“If you dare to attack media organizations, beware… we will take on T-News as well,” he said.
