How Andhra Pradesh Jana Sena Party's anti-Nageshwar campaign sparked Telangana sentiment

In a much-anticipated turn of events, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party’s continued pressure campaign against Prof. K. Nageshwar, the most-followed political commentator in Telangana and a two-time MLC, has reignited Telangana sentiment.

A press meet conducted by JSP leaders on May 28 at the Hyderabad Press Club ended in a chaotic exchange between the party leaders and journalists, who objected to the boorish language used by Sampat Kumar Naik, a little-known JSP leader, against Prof. Nageshwar and Pasam Yadagiri, two respected journalists from Telangana. The confrontation evoked memories of the Telangana statehood movement, when journalists would challenge leaders who opposed the creation of the state.

The issue began when Prof. Nageshwar said that Pawan Kalyan unsuccessfully lobbied the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, to have YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy arrested. He claimed to have obtained this information from a highly placed source in the JSP. He used this anecdote to explain how both the ruling (TDP, JSP) and opposition parties (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh were equally supportive of the BJP. However, the JSP took serious objection to his comments, and the party cadre filed three FIRs in Andhra Pradesh. The JSP and Telugu Desam Party supporters trolled the professor on social media. He was called “Paytm Nageshwar”, alleging that he was on the monthly payroll of YSRCP.

Nadendla Manohar, Andhra civil supplies minister and JSP leader, demanded that the professor withdraw his comments. Despite initially sounding defiant, Prof. Nageshwar announced that he was 'withdrawing his comments unconditionally.' Ideally, the dispute should have ended there. However, the AP government neither withdrew the cases nor indicated it would end the matter soon.

BJP national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) top leader T. Harish Rao appealed to the AP government to withdraw the cases as the professor had already withdrawn his comments. Several others also made similar appeals on social media. Many were irked that the AP government had filed cases against a Telangana intellectual for making a political comment. Since then, the issue has been raging on social media, with both sides questioning each other’s motives.

Protesting the FIRs, a group of journalists and activists held a round-table meeting on May 27 at the Hyderabad Press Club along with Prof. Nageshwar and Pasam Yadagiri. The group strongly criticised the AP government’s attitude towards free speech. At the press meet, the professor dared the AP government to arrest him and declared that the FIRs would not stop him from speaking his mind. The group also denounced what it described as Andhra’s oppression of a prominent Telangana voice. The writing was on the wall; the dispute was slowly taking an Andhra-versus-Telangana turn.

Through the press meet, the Jana Sena Party leaders aimed to send a message that they could speak on any topic of their choice in Hyderabad without hesitation. The party has plans for Telangana for the 2029 elections. However, their language created an immediate firestorm. Under pressure, the leaders had to vacate the press club, and visuals of the confrontation went viral. A social media storm followed with several Telangana intellectuals and members of the public questioning how Pawan Kalyan could live in Hyderabad while allegedly trying to suppress Telangana voices.

Many dared the JSP and TDP to arrest Prof. Nageshwar and challenged that the party leaders would never be able to enter Hyderabad again. US-based doctor Y. Tirupati Reddy questioned what the Andhra parties had to do with Telangana. He broadly echoed the sentiment reignited by the JSP’s unsuccessful press meet.

Why is there such reverence for journalists? Prof. Nageshwar is not a regular journalist. He has taught hundreds of journalists working in Hyderabad at the journalism department of Osmania University. He has been a popular journalism professor. His near-objective analysis has earned him a cult following among journalists, media houses, politicians and the public. He has written in all major English-language dailies, including The Hindu, The Times of India and The Economic Times. He has been a visiting professor at multiple government and private institutions, including the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. Despite being visually impaired, he achieved remarkable success in journalism.

The JSP leaders also dragged Pasam Yadagiri, another respected senior journalist, into the dispute by attacking him for his comments on Pawan Kalyan. Yadagiri is regarded as a veteran journalist with a deep knowledge of Telangana's history and enjoys respect across the political spectrum. With the JSP leaders targeting him, they have successfully turned this dispute into an emotive issue for Telangana journalists, political parties and civil society. 

Responding to the dispute, senior journalist Telakapalli Ravi said the JSP's response was entirely disproportionate and that the AP government should have ended the matter once Prof. Nageshwar withdrew his comments. “This is a freedom of the press question, and the cases were totally unnecessary. Pawan Kalyan stating that he was offended because Amit Shah was involved in a dispute sounds strange. Can’t people criticise Amit Shah or the Prime Minister?” He said the enthusiasm of small-time leaders to prove their loyalty to Pawan Kalyan has created problems for the party. “They must not encourage the social media trolling by saying that the fans' feelings were hurt and they were responding,” he cautioned.

There are two immediate questions to consider here. Are JSP and TDP unnecessarily targeting the political commentator, and how do protests in Telangana affect leaders in Andhra Pradesh? 

Prof. Nageshwar has his own political biases; for instance, he agreed with the YSRCP agenda and criticised the TDP before the elections. He also appeared to have supported the Congress party in Telangana. His interview with Revanth Reddy, then PCC chief and chief minister face, had a significant positive impact on the Congress election campaign. However, he could have done so of his own choice and not for any favours, at least most people like to think so. Even critics who disagree with his political views felt that filing criminal cases against him amounted to an excessive response that could have a chilling effect on free speech. “There is a feeling that Nageshwar is against TDP and JSP. In this issue, they asked for the source, and they should have continued with that line. This confrontational approach doesn’t benefit them,” said D. Papa Rao, a Hyderabad-based political commentator. 

The second question, on why Andhra Pradesh leaders should bother about protests in Telangana, has an interesting answer. Though JSP and TDP have no political stakes in Telangana, almost all the AP leaders, including the chief minister and deputy chief minister, have residences and considerable business interests in Hyderabad, and they visit the city almost every weekend. This was because Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were part of a single state before 2014, and Hyderabad was the centre of politics, business, and filmmaking. Now, Telanganites are questioning how the AP leaders could be antithetical to their journalists while they are enjoying such hospitality. Though they sound rhetorical, that’s their coercive reply to the AP government cases. 

Who is benefiting from this dispute is equally interesting. It is the Opposition BRS. The dispute had a negative impact on the TDP and JSP, the ruling NDA partners in AP. However, the ruling Congress also took a hit as it could not speak out against the cases against the journalists. This silence immensely benefited the BRS, which ran a viral social media campaign on the controversy. The BRS also got a second opportunity after running a successful social media campaign against the government in the POCSO case involving Bandi Bhageerath. The BRS alleged that the chief minister has failed to nab the accused, who was the son of Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the Union Minister of state for home. Now, the BRS is questioning the chief minister’s silence on the matter. 

Papa Rao believes the BRS was benefiting out of this issue at the expense of Congress. 
Provoking Telangana’s journalistic community should be the last thing the JSP and TDP do. The protests could become a source of headache for the Congress government, which had no direct role in starting the dispute. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has cultivated a pro-media image by actively engaging with journalists, taking up their issues, and not being antipathetic to media houses. With both the BJP and BRS already demanding the withdrawal of the cases, Revanth Reddy is most likely to intervene. Further agitation could put pressure on the Andhra Pradesh government, and it is imperative that the government resolve the dispute as its losses outweigh the benefits.