With the polling date for the Nandyal byelection and the Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections approaching fast, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) intensified verbal attacks on each other.

Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu charged Leader of the Opposition Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy with misusing his media house to slander the TDP, while YSRCP senior leader Botcha Satyanarayana alleged that the ruling party was resorting to blackmailing tactics to influence the voters in both the elections.

Addressing a press conference at the TDP office here, Mr. Ramakrishnudu said the media house owned by Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was publishing and airing unconfirmed reports targeting the State government.

“They are not following the basic norms of journalism and trying to elicit the opinion of the officials concerned before publishing the news. They are not even carrying the rejoinders being sent by the departments concerned in response to those news items,” he said, wondering why the government couldn’t stop issuing advertisements to the media house that was not honouring the guidelines issued by the Press Council of India.