The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday lashed out at Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy over his alleged threats to those ‘posing as journalists’. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, in a self made video, equated the Congress’ party with DNA with that of ‘Emergency’. Reddy posted in a post that “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”.
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.
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.
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. 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. 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.