The schism within the journalist organizations has reached a peak following the freezing of Sakshi bank accounts. The leading journalist union in Andhra Pradesh has always been APUWJ, which throughout its existence has been under the firm control of K Srinivas Reddy and D Amar.
Though these two do not represent any major news organization in the state, they have been able to rule the roost for more nearly three decades now. Detractors allege that they were always pally with the ruling establishments of the day and were beneficiaries of the governments of the day.
While both the leaders are presently under fire from other sections of the press besides political parties for siding blatantly with Jagan Mohan Reddy, interestingly these two leaders were perceived as very close to Chandrababu Naidu during his nine years in government.
Many journalists feel that these two leaders were used by the late YSR to neutralize the reactions from the press when his government launched an all-out attack on Ramoji Rao and his Margadarsi. The duo were active at the time defending the government stance. Both Srinivas Reddy and Amar were very powerful during this period.
However, the sudden death of YSR shook the political contours of the state. Kiran, not known for his friendly nature, was not as accommodating to these leaders as his previous leaders had been.
Having been forced to turn to Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party, both the leaders have been supporting YSR Congress Party during all their public speeches.
However, even they did not imagine the kind of reaction from TDP, Congress and many journalists towards their commitment to Jagan. They were forced to go on defensive on the issue.
Many, who have been nursing grouse against their domination over the affairs of journalists, jumped at the opportunity to expose them. T Ramesh Babu, president of a rival journalist union, now demanded an ACB and CBI inquiry into the assets of Srinvas Reddy and Amar.
He alleged that both of them benefited immensely from government largesse, besides making money by letting out space in union office – given by the government – to restaurants and other businesses.
Given that Kiran’s government is not shy of exposing its critics, the journalist union leaders may face some stiff resistance from all sides from now on.
