YSR Congress demands TRAI probe into alleged illegal blocking of news channels in Andhra Pradesh

Ousted from power in the recent Andhra Pradesh assembly election, the YSR Congress Party on Tuesday accused the new state government of muzzling the press and demanded an investigation by the telecom regulator into the alleged illegal blocking of some news channels.

In a letter to the chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Rajya Sabha member S Niranjan Reddy claimed that several channels including TV9, NTV, 10TV and Sakshi TV were taken off air by the state’s cable TV operators’ association under “pressure and directions” from the government led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).