The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday lashed out at Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy over his alleged threats to those ‘posing as journalists’, accusing the grand old party of suppressing free speech and other media rights.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, in a self made video, equated the Congress’ party with DNA with that of ‘Emergency’. His X post’s caption read, “Congress = DNA of Emergency. Like Indira, now Revanth. Crush free speech & any voice of dissent.”
The remark came regarding a Times of India report which said that Reddy had expressed anger over derogatory content being posted online against him and his family. He reportedly warned those “posing as journalists”, those who indulge in “offensive and abusive” and said that he will have people who post such content “stripped and paraded because they have no right to comment on women in my family”.
Reddy’s outrage was directed at the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party, whom he accused of orchestrating abusive posts against him and his family.
Earlier, a farmer had also allegedly threatened violence against the Telangana CM’s family and Congress members for not having fulfilled their election promises. Police had even registered a case and arrested two women linked to a local YouTube channel in this regard this past week, accusing them of filming the farmer’s threat video inside the premises of the BRS office.
‘Is this the shop of Love?’
In condemnation of Reddy’s warning, Poonawalla said in his video, “The Congress party’s DNA has Emergency in it. Just like how the Congress party has always attacked the rights of the media. Indira Gandhi ji imposed censorship during the Emergency. Nehru ji introduced the First Amendment, which imposed restrictions on freedom of speech. Majrooh Sultanpuri was sent to jail. Rajiv Gandhi introduced two media-opposing bills.”
He also noted a recent incident from Telangana, wherein a female journalist was arrested after she allegedly highlighted the struggles and issues of farmers. Poonawalla said, “When she became the voice of the farmers, the Congress party attacked her.”
“The Congress chief minister (Revanth Reddy) is threatening, saying ‘Who are these YouTubers? These are not journalists. They abuse, and I will strip them, I will humiliate them, I will beat them, I will make them roam on the streets,” Poonawalla alleged.
The BJP spokesperson condemned Reddy for his remarks and questioned the consistency of the Congress party’s stance on matters of press freedom. “Is this the language of a chief minister from the Congress party? Rahul Gandhi talks about press freedom, love, and democracy. Is this the definition of democracy? Is this the shop of love? Is this what promotes press freedom, Rahul ji?”
Revanth Reddy had also alleged that the BRS had brought “paid artists” to its party office, recorded the video and posted it on social media.
He had also reportedly warned former CM and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, saying that if he crossed the line, “the consequences will be dire. I am being tolerant and stopping the youth, or else they would hit the roads, strip you all before beating you black and blue”.