Telugu Desam leader and party president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s son, Nara Lokesh, has written a letter to the editorial director of Sakshi Media Group condemning airing of false news reports on him by the Group’s television channel. He said that he would move the court seeking legal action against the news channel if it did not broadcast the corrigendum regarding the news report. The letter was tweeted by former TDP MP C.M Ramesh who also went ballistic about Sakshi TV.

On May 28, the television channel, in the breaking news section, broadcast report that Nara Lokesh had blamed the party leaders and activists for the TDP’s poll debacle. It even said that Lokesh questioned why had all the leaders lost in the polls except for a handful of leaders like party MP Galla Jayadev. Further, the news channel also reported that Lokesh said that the party leaders cheated TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu. He said that 90 per cent of the rout was caused by the party leaders and the remaining 10 per cent by the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

In the letter, Lokesh said that he participated in party founder N.T. Rama Rao’s birth anniversary celebrations in the party office at Mangalagiri. “It was broadcast that I made the comments at the party office in Guntur where Chandrababu Naidu took part in the birth anniversary celebrations,” he said. The TDP leader further clarified that he was not present in the Guntur party office and found fault with the news channel for airing false news.

He alleged that Sakshi news channel was trying to create rift among the TDP cadre and also bringing disrepute to him by broadcasting reports that were not true. “In the name of media, which is considered the fourth pillar in a democracy, Sakshi is stooping to abysmal level and playing cheap tricks,” he said.