Talk: Eenadu ‘ragging’ YCP Leaders!

The widely circulated Telugu daily Eenadu is known for its tirade against YSR which it launched a few months after he assumed office as the Chief Minister in 2004. Later, Eenadu continued the attack even on his son Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy after YSR’s death.

However, the newspaper subdued its onslaught after the bifurcation of the state in 2014 and its voice became much feeble after Jagan took charge as the Chief Minister. Many of the readers were even disappointed with the sudden change in stance of the newspaper.

Irked over the frequent criticism of their media organisation by Jagan and Co., Eenadu shed it’s self- imposed inhibitions and increased the counterattack against the ruling YCP government during the last few months.

In the last few days, Eenadu’s war with YCP MP V. Vijayasai Reddy had evoked public interest. Three days ago, Eenadu carried a report on the land deals of Reddy’s daughter and son-in-law in Vizag with all the details which created a sensation in Andhra Pradesh. The next day, the MP held a press meet and fumed at the newspaper management. Though his reply was not convincing, his remarks on Vizag MP M.V. V. Satyanarayana assumed significance.

He asked why were not the people questioning the sale of Kurmanapalem lands when the developer (MVV Satyanarayana) took 99 per cent of the land cost and parted with just 1 per cent of the income to the owners. In contrast, Vijayasai Reddy said that he took 71 per cent of the cost and gave 29per cent to the land owners. “Yet people are faulting me,” he lamented.

Taking the MP’s remarks as a clue, Eenadu published yet another report giving details about the sale of Kurmanapalem lands by the MP. In the report, the newspaper carried a box item acknowledging the YCP MP for his information.

Further, the Telugu news daily mentioned that the owners of the land were not given even 1 per cent of the land cost as mentioned by Vijayasai Reddy. They got only 0.96 per cent, the report stated. This report drew the attention of the netizens and a few of them commented that Eenadu’s ragging has reached a peak level.