The sudden resignation of senior journalist Kommineni Srinivasa Rao from the post of Andhra Pradesh Media Academy chairman on Saturday night has taken everybody by surprise.
Kommineni, known for his unflinching loyalty towards YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was appointed as the chairman of AP Media Academy on November 10, 2022. So, he has put in papers within 13 months and 15 days.
In a statement on Saturday night, the senior journalist said his resignation, sent to the chief minister, would come into effect from January 17. He thanked Jagan for reposing faith in him and appointing him in the post, giving him a cabinet rank.
He said he had done his best in taking up various programmes for the working journalists, including introduction of Diploma in Journalism course in Acharya Nagarjuna University and conduct of online training classes for working journalists.
Kommineni also claimed that he had successfully took the welfare and development programmes of the Jagan government into the people through various forms of media, including social media.
When he has done so much for the journalists as he claimed in the statement, one wonders why he had to resign from his post. Though he said he had done it for personal reasons, he did not mention what he is going to do in future.
There are different versions doing rounds in the media circles about Kommineni’s resignation.
According to one version, Kommineni has been telling his media friends for the last few months that the academy is facing severe funds crunch and he is not able to anything, except getting salary.
He even tried to meet the chief minister to explain about the difficulties he has been facing, but did not get the audience.
“He is disgusted with the bureaucratic hurdles in meeting the chief ministers resolving the issues. Hence, he resigned,” a source said.
Another version is that Kommineni is likely to be given a bigger task by Jagan ahead of the elections – to take up a massive media campaign, like conduct of debates on the mainstream and social media, writing articles and design the media strategy for the ruling YSRCP.
“Since he cannot do it in the capacity of AP Media Academy chairman, which is a government post, Kommineni had to step down to take up the larger task given by the chief minister,” another source said.
