Every political party in India these days has one or the other media backing up. It would be a blatant lie if someone says nothing like that happens. There are only very few parties that stand tall without media backup. In Andhra Pradesh, large scale backup of media was first seen only in the case of TDP. It however started off on a small note with Udayam newspaper backing Congress decades ago.
To counter TDP, Jagan launched Sakshi media and Jagathi publications during his father’s regime. Jagan was a congress politician at that time. Later, after YSR demise and jagan’s struggles began, the field was open for a massive fight between Pro-Jagan media and Pro-TDP media. For the first time in the history of Andhra, there was intense rivalry. It was Pro-TDP media that began attacking Jagan and his political rise with more vigor and hatred.
In fact, it is an open secret that to bring Chandrababu Naidu to power, they go to any extent. This can be in the form of openly backing potential allies and creating a ground for their reunion. This strategy worked out well for TDP during 2014 elections when it won the first assembly polls held after bifurcation in AP. Now, there are regular essays, stories, columns and editorials against the Jagan government on a daily basis which shows their eagerness to bring back TDP to power. As if these antics are not enough, now they have resorted to a high voltage campaign against good deeds of the Modi government.
There are columns and stories about what Modi is doing as the PM. There are dedicated pages for Kashmir, apparently showcasing the positive changes seen there after special status for the status scrapped in 2019. If someone has done good for the nation, it’s worth appreciating. But open promotion to get into the good books of BJP and trying to bring Babu closer to Modi, to enhance the former’s stature and tie them up is clearly being noticed openly. To make sure TDP wins, the Pro-TDP media seems to be leaving no stone unturned. This is being noticed by Jagan who feels his outreach to the poor in AP is enough to continue in power.
