(S.R.Seshu)
Finding a Larry King kind of television host in Telugu is like foolishly trying to find a needle in a haystack. If there is someone who can be called ‘the Larry King of Telugu’ even with farthest resemblance, you should consider the name of Kommineni Srinivasa Rao, a.k.a. KSR.
This senior most journalist, who is in news because of his popular live show and the venom spewed by the Telugu Desam Party government against him, is widely known for his unbelievable sense of balance in both forms of communication, verbal and written. His copies, full of complex sentences, used to be hard-hitting for editors because he would prefer making indirect references than stating straight to the point, when he was a print journalist.
At a time when KSR was leading a peaceful life in N-TV, the TDP government allegedly stopped the live show by exerting pressure on the veteran journalist. Though the N-TV owner Narendranath Choudary didn’t show him the door, KSR chose to quit and joined Sakshi television channel, the propaganda tool of the Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The KSR’s live show that runs between 7.30 to 8.30 am is slowly picking up the momentum.
Meanwhile, KSR took strong objection to the TDP government’s blockade of Sakshi channel in Andhra Pradesh. Speaking to journalists after submitting a memorandum to the governor in Hyderabad on Wednesday, KSR said: “Chandrababu has set the stage for a caste war in Andhra Pradesh by stopping the telecast of Sakshi channel in a bid to hush up the news related to Kapu’s agitation. He is creating a caste kurukshetra.”
He dubbed Chandrababu Naidu’s attitude as a ‘dangerous’ one. “We don’t know whether he is doing it intentionally or unintentionally or with a logic or without a logic and we are unaware as to who is giving this kind of advises but what he is doing is not proper,” KSR said.
KSR, who had a wonderful equation with Naidu when he was in Eenadu, also said: “He (Naidu) was not like that. We don’t know what happened to him now but his style of functioning has become most awful. It is foolish to think that he can achieve desired results by blocking a television channel.
KSR published his version in his website under the headline: “AP lo sankula samaraaniki tera-Kommineni” (Stage set for a caste war in AP, says Kommineni).
