• Home
• /
• World

KCR slams media for jibe at MLAs, vows suitable action

TELANGANA CHIEF minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has warned Telugu television channels and newspapers headquartered in Hyderabad and controlled by promoters from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh not to run “malicious campaigns” against the new state.

“TV9 (a prominent television channel) and Andhra Jyothi newspaper have been heaping insults not only on the elected members of Telangana assembly, but have also been ridiculing the people of the state. We will not tolerate such impudence by these media organisations, and we will not stop short of enacting Cable TV Act like Tamil Nadu to check such disinformation campaign,” KCR, as the chief minister is known, said while replying to the debate on the governor’s address to the state assembly.

The visibly upset chief minister said TV9 had, in a recent telecast, likened the Telangana assembly legislators to a “bunch of people who were used to seeing movies through moving talkies in rural areas being suddenly pushed into a multiplex cinema in the city.”

“This is very insulting and smacks of arrogance on the part of the TV channel management. I warn these media organisations to stop such nonsense immediately or face punitive action,” he said.

Pointing out to a report in Andhra Jyothi on Friday claiming that the chief minister had directed officials at the border check-posts to impose heavy taxes on goods coming from Andhra Pradesh, KCR said this was nothing but a malicious campaign directed at discrediting the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government.

The chief minister also cited another report in the Telugu daily which claimed that the government had imposed a burden of Rs5 billion on vehicle owners in Telangana with its decision to change registration from the existing AP to TS in the number plates.

“When a new state is born, it is natural for the vehicle registrations to be changed for various purposes including facilitating inter-state permits,” KCR said.

The management of TV9 has since responded and apologised for what it termed as a ‘mistake,’ and assured that it would not telecast such programmes in future.

news@khaleejtimes.com