Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has sacked the Chairman, Brahmin Welfare corporation IYR Krishna
Rao, offended by some the posts he had shared on his Facebook page.
This is the second time that the critical posts on social media landed somebody in serious trouble in Andhra Pradesh. Earlier a cartoonist Inturi Ravikiran was arrested by the police on his posts and cartoons targeting the Chief Minister and his son IT Minister Nara lokesh.
The orders sacking IYR Krishna Rao, a former Chief Secretary of the state were issued on Tuesday after months old FB posts shared by him went viral and they were brought to the notice of Naidu.
Apparently the trouble for Krishna Rao began when he criticised a TDP leader for defending Anantapur MP JC Diwakar Reddy in his spat with IndiGo airlines. Recently the TDP MP was barred from flying by 7 domestic airlines for unruly behaviour. A TDP functionary in his Facebook post demanded the VIPs should be given more time by Airline. Krishna Rao, a prolific Facebook user opposed the idea.
“I opposed him as there is a protocol and VIPs should not be exempted. I don't know what wrong I said. And that TDP functionary pulled out the old posts”, Krishna Rao said at a press conference in Amaravati to after his sacking was announced.
Denying any wrong doing he said that he came to know about his renewal from TV. “There was no need for all this. If they had called me I would have resigned”, he said.
In one of the posts earlier shared by him Krishna Rao had criticised the arrest of the cartoonist Intluri Ravikiran.
Krishna Rao who has been commenting on the happenings , said, “I felt bad over his arrest. I started thinking what kind of system we are living in. Are we fascistIJ I believe that it was wrong, so I just shared three or four posts in protest. Is that a criminal mistakeIJ I shared those posts without comment, because I felt that we should not put criminal cases on satirists.”
In another instance he found fault with the TDP raising hue and cry over leader of opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy meeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As all these posts went viral TDP supporters went after him on the social media baying for his blood.