The elections held to the Hyderabad Press Club on Sunday reminded one of a high-voltage political battle and clearly exposed the political and caste alignments of the journalists, who are expected to be above caste and political affiliations.
The journalists were virtually divided on caste and regional lines to grab power in the Press Club, which has become a matter of prestige for them.
One panel has openly claimed to be a Reddy-dominated group, the rival group was dominated by Brahmins and Kapus.
There were other smaller players, but the two dominant caste groups took it prestigiously to gain hold over the Press Club.
Needless to say, holding positions in Press Club brings them closer to the power centres and hence, capturing the management committee holds a lot of importance.
What is worse, there are reports that there was involvement of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi leaders in the elections. They stood by a particular panel and made every effort to secure votes for their canddiates.
There is also a talk that huge money changed hands in the press club elections and a day before the polling, big people distributed money among some press club members to buy their support.
The TRS leaders have also used the Telangana sentiment card, saying only genuine Telangana journalists should represent the Press Club and outsiders (read Andhra journalists) do not have any place in the club.
Now, they are insisting that a separate club by name Telangana Press Club be launched and membership would be given only to Telangana journalists.
God save journalism!
