YSRCP Condemns Media Reports About Defections

The YSR Congress Party has said that a section of the media that is friendly to the TDP government has been spinning baseless stories of defections from the YSRCP without verifying the facts, and has asked its cadre not to be carried away by such false reports.

"The reports appearing in a section of media are blatant lies and are not sourced properly, and go against the norms of objective journalism as they have been published without checking with the person or Party involved. We condemn such reports and resolutely affirm that there is no truth in the reports," Party spokesperson Ambati Rambabu told reporters on Wednesday.

Ever since the YSR Congress had emerged as a force with a huge public following and missed power by just 2% of votes, the media that was close to the TDP had been unleashing false propaganda against its President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and the Party, and had stepped up the campaign of late, he alleged.

"The media has been churning out stories of defections to create confusion among the cadre, but did not take into account the other side of the story or thought it fit to take a quote from us. Such reports are highly condemnable and are not in good taste. Similar reports had been published when YSR was in the Opposition by the same media, but the people did not believe the lies, and voted the YSR-led Congress to power in 2004," he said.

Power was not permanent, and was bound to swing as time passed, Rambabu added. The reports that leaders were quitting the YSR Congress in droves were false, be it Jaleel Khan or others, he asserted, and said that there was no need for anyone to leave the Party at this juncture as the TDP was on the back foot by going back on its poll promises.

The TDP leaders were trying to evade the public as they were scared of facing the wrath of the farmers, women, students and other sections, he said.

When asked about Konathala Ramakrishna's resignation, he stated, "There is no need to react to reports appearing in a section of media. If the words come from the leader himself then it would merit a reaction." (INN)