For the regular reader of Deccan Chronicle newspaper, and for one who regularly follows it, it might be clear that the newspaper runs a crazy and wild story on the 1st of April every year, to mark April Fool’s day. This year too, the newspaper did the same thing, and ran a wild story on TDP, saying that Nara Chandrababu Naidu decided to merge the party with Bharatiya Janata Party.
DC also wrote that the TDP chief took this decision after he realised that the party was slowly sinking into oblivion in Andhra Pradesh. It also stated that Chandrababu would start playing an important role in National Politics, from Modi’s cabinet. The 2-page article in DC also states that the members of TDP had to reluctantly say yes to the merger, as their future in the party looked very bleak. Towards the end of the article, it was clearly mentioned that the article is a prank, though, leaving the readers with clarity.
Despite the article being a clear prank, the TDP seems to have been highly offended by it, with TDP Andhra unit president K Atchan Naidu calling the act a part of irresponsible journalism. He also said that the article is a violation of journalistic values and that DC should understand the historic significance of TDP, as the party was established to safeguard the self-respect of the Telugu people.
On the other hand, BJP’s Andhra Pradesh co-in-charge Sunil Deodhar shared a picture of the article on social media and questioned if it was really an April Fool’s joke.