Political analyst and former MLC Professor K Nageswar, who came under attack from Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party activists on social media for his controversial comments on Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, appears to be more than happy with the controversy.
Nageswar had earlier announced that he was unconditionally withdrawing his controversial remarks against Pawan Kalyan during an interview with a television channel last week.
However, in a latest interview, he said the controversy had made him more popular and richer, though he had to withdraw his comments.
He said the backlash from a section of social media users had caused him no harm.
On the contrary, he claimed that his YouTube channel witnessed a sharp rise in subscribers, viewership and revenue over the last three days.
“In a way, the trolling helped me,” Nageswar remarked.
He further said that if authorities had arrested and jailed him, his subscriber count would have increased by another million.
“But they did not dare to do that,” he said.
Referring to remarks made earlier by senior CPI leader K Narayana, Nageswar said that if he had been arrested, it would have triggered larger political reactions.
He joked that “cockroaches would have come out,” echoing Narayana’s controversial metaphor regarding the suppression of dissent.
Nageswar argued that social media algorithms do not distinguish between criticism and praise.
“The more trolling happens, the more the videos get promoted,” he said.
Stressing that he was never afraid or tense about the controversy, the professor recalled his activist days as a student leader.
He said he had faced police baton charges during student agitations and had even spent three days in Mushirabad Jail while fighting for hostel-related issues during his student years.
“If I faced all that then, why would I fear now?” he questioned.
He also recalled that he had once been arrested even after becoming an MLC.
CPI leader Narayana said that if Nageswar were arrested, he could emerge as a “powerful chief ministerial candidate.”
He alleged that some Jana Sena leaders were filing cases against Nageswar and described the entire development as “blackmail politics” aimed at intimidating critics.
Nageswar, a well-known political analyst and former MLC, recently sparked a major political controversy by claiming that Pawan Kalyan had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to pressure him into arresting YSR Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
He claimed Amit Shah had reprimanded Pawan Kalyan, saying Jagan had consistently supported the BJP in Delhi with his 25 MPs.
He also said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu may be an instant friend of the BJP, but Jagan is a committed friend.
The Jana Sena Party strongly condemned Nageswar’s comments and countered him with what it called the factual position.
Facing severe backlash from the party and the public, Nageswar issued an unconditional retraction on live television.
He admitted that he had been misinformed by his sources and stated that there was no truth to the claims.
However, Jana Sena Party leaders filed a complaint against Nageswar at Indrapalem Police Station in Kakinada district, following which police registered a case against him.
