Top Congress leaders in the state are suddenly evincing interest in gaining control over television channels.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief Botcha Satyanarayana is reportedly making exertions to set up an exclusive TV channel for the Congress—apart from blowing his trumpet.
Sources close to the APCC chief divulged that he has been busy negotiating with the owners of some loss-making TV channels to buy a stake for himself. It is learnt that the APCC chief, whose family is believed to have some stakes in the cable TV business with DigiCable franchises in north Andhra and parts of Hyderabad, recently contacted the management of one TV channel, which is said to be on the verge of closure due to heavy losses. Botcha’s close aides divulged that the chief is determined to start a channel for Congress party propaganda at the earliest.
Close associates of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy are also said to be engaged in a similar exercise. They are eyeing local channels that can bought, lock, stock and barrel. The investment is proposed to be made by a family member of a minister in the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet. In fact, they reportedly paid an advance to one channel through an MLC but backed out after realisation that the brand did not have the valuation it claimed.