VIJAYAWADA: Former Andhra Pradesh chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao has been removed from the post of chairman of the AP Brahmin Welfare Corporation and chairman of the AP Endowments Archakas and Other Employees Welfare Trust on Tuesday. In his place, the government has appointed Vemuri Ananda Surya.
The government’s decision comes in the wake of reports that Krishna Rao had commented and shared posts on his Facebook account that were against the state government. For the last couple of days, there have been reports in the media and on social media platforms that Krishna Rao had commented against the interests of the state government. The TDP’s second-rung leaders were particularly vocal in the media.
On the other hand, IYR Krishna Rao maintained that he had only expressed his views on his personal Facebook page. He said he failed to get chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s appointment for six months and opined that people were not being told all the facts.
Speaking to mediapersons in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening, Krishna Rao said he could not understand as to why such a malicious campaign was waged against him. “Everyday, people like Kesineni Nani and J C Diwakar Reddy make comments. But somehow, my Facebook comments generated a controversy,” he said.
Krishna Rao said he had posted his views on the J C Diwakar Reddys episode at the Visakhapatnam airport and cited the rules in force. “Citing the example of buses being delayed in villages to accommodate a sarpanch who arrives late, I posted that though we may be national-level leaders, our mindset remains that of a sarpanch,” he said.
The other Facebook post was about the arrest of Inturi Ravikrishna on April 22 for his political satire. “I felt bad. I thought are we in a fascist regime. A political satire has to be laughed at. From that day, for a week I shared such political satires among a group of my friends” he said.
The former chief secretary wondered as to why those posts he had shared and those he had commented on particular issues have been highlighted. “A Facebook account is for expressing oneself. I have posted about issues ranging from Donald Trump to bananas in Srikakulam,” he said.