The Telugu Desam Party-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh has launched a massive crackdown against social media activists and sympathisers of the opposition YSR Congress Party, claiming that they “crossed a line” by posting derogatory content about “wives and daughters” of TDP leaders. Between November 6 and 12, the state police issued 680 notices, registered 147 cases and arrested 49 persons, The Indian Express has learnt.

Most of them have been booked under BNS sections related to promoting enmity between different groups, defamation, public mischief, criminal conspiracy as well as IT Act sections related to morphing images and posting derogatory content.

Sources say the police in various districts mined social media posts by YSRCP activists and sympathisers that allegedly targeted influential women – Home Minister V Anitha, TDP MLA and actor N Balakrishna’s wife Vasundhara, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s wife, Deputy CM and Jana Sena Party chief K Pawan Kalyan daughters, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y S Sharmila, and her mother Y S Vijayamma.

Prominent YSRCP social media activists who have been booked include Varra Ravinder Reddy, Inturi Ravi Kiran, Kallam Harikrishna Reddy, Peddireddy Sudha Rani, and Meka Venkat Rami Reddy. “Ravinder Reddy is Kadapa district YSRCP co-convenor and handles their social media. He has been spreading defamatory content online, and causing unrest among communities,” said Kurnool Range DIG Koya Praveen on the arrest. “He has morphed images of political leaders, and has been posting content that incites unrest among various communities. His actions promote division and disturb social harmony. He manages dozens of YouTube channels which target women leaders by vulgar content against them.”

TDP spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy told The Indian Express, “Posting jokes or caricatures of opposition political leaders is fine but targeting the women of their families and posting vulgar and sexually explicit content is crossing the line. When the TDP came to power five months ago, the senior leadership had decided not to do vendetta politics and had ignored these social media activists and their derogatory posts. However, instead of learning a lesson, they have become belligerent. Why drag female family members of TDP leaders, including wives and daughters, into this dirty social media war? They have not even spared Y S Sharmila and Y S Vijayamma. Their social media posts have degenerated into sexually vulgar comments on people like Home Minister V Anitha. It is all below the belt, and this crackdown is their own doing. In fact, people are fed up and lodging police complaints,” Reddy said.

YSRCP chief and former CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy condemned the arrests and said the TDP-led coalition government was indulging in vendetta politics. “The government is targeting social media activists with harassment, illegal detentions and threats, directly attacking the constitutional right to freedom of speech. By suppressing these voices, the government is undermining democracy and violating the basic rights guaranteed to every citizen. This misuse of power shows a focus on political vendetta rather than upholding democratic values,” he said.

The crackdown on social media posts comes amidst outrage expressed by Pawan Kalyan, who recently criticised the home minister for not doing her job.