At least 4 Telugu news channels namely TV9, Sakshi TV, NTV and 10TV were taken off the air by several cable TV operators in Andhra Pradesh, according to several news reports. Reports claimed that the channels stopped airing since Friday night (June 21) as the cable operators "refused" to air the channels. The reports also mentioned that the first time the channels were taken off the air was for a day on June 6.
While fingers were raised on the newly formed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in the state, the TDP led government has reportedly denied that it passed any such circular. However, the YSRCP alleged that the TDP government in the state ordered for the channels to be taken off-air.
Out of the 4 channels blocked, Sakshi TV was launched by family of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, reported The Indian Express.
A letter was written by the YSRCP to the telecom regulator TRAI in which the party complained about the 4 channels taken off the air. Rajya Sabha member and YSRCP leader S Niranjan Reddy said that the newly-minted TDP government in Andhra Pradesh wanted to permanently block TV9, NTV, 10TV and Sakshi TV, reported the Indian Express.
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The letter was written on June 11 and it called the channels taken off-air as a direct assault on the values and principles of democracy.
However, the report goes on to mention that the practice of taking channels off the air by political parties that are deemed to be rivals of the party in the government is not new and that the same practice was witnessed under the previous YSRCP government in the state. At that time, channels considered to be pro-TDP were taken off-air by the cable operators who had alleged pressure from the government of the day.
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