BRS hits back at Congress, Mahaa News for vulgar smear campaign, demands apology

BRS leaders have demanded an unconditional apology from Mahaa News management to Chandrashekhar Rao and Rama Rao.

Hyderabad: A day after the alleged attack by BRSV (student wing) leaders on the Mahaa News office for publishing vulgar content and misleading YouTube thumbnails, political temperatures soared in Telangana with the BRS stepping up its offensive against the Congress government and a section of the media.

The party accused both of colluding in a concerted smear campaign targeting BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao and working president K T Rama Rao.

---

BRS leaders demanded an unconditional apology from Mahaa News management to Chandrashekhar Rao and Rama Rao. While condemning the attack on the channel’s office, they said media freedom should not be mistaken for a licence to defame or operate without accountability.

The party cautioned that what began as defamation had now escalated into an attack on Telangana’s dignity, leadership and legacy.

BRS MLC Dasoju Sravan lashed out at “media trials” and the circulation of unverified leaks in the ongoing phone tapping case. He urged the National Commission for Women to take action against Mahaa News for broadcasting defamatory content that, he alleged, dragged unrelated women into political controversies.

“Freedom of the press does not mean freedom to defame,” Sravan said.

MLC Shambhipur Raju questioned Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s silence on alleged attacks against BRS leaders and accused him of siding with “anti-Telangana forces.” He said Bhatti, who failed to stand by BRS cadre earlier, had now rushed to defend a media outlet he described as working under the guise of journalism.

Former MLA Chanti Kranthi Kiran also took strong exception to the tone of Mahaa News coverage. “Spreading vulgar thumbnails and fake content about K T Rama Rao for TRPs is not journalism; it is vulgarism,” he said, warning of serious consequences if the media continued to indulge in character assassination and personal abuse.

Former MLC Karne Prabhakar recalled how pro-Telangana voices were vilified during the Statehood movement and criticised the current government for enabling “yellow journalism.”

He said: “Telangana was achieved without bloodshed, but today, conspiracies are being hatched in the name of journalism.”