Published Oct 03, 2024 | 11:31 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 03, 2024 | 11:31 AM
The 10 emblem designs Big TV unveiled for a poll
It looked like an April Fool’s Day “news item”, intended to make the audience laugh. However, it was 1 October, and Big TV, the media house that made the announcement, was dead serious.
The “news item” in question was an opinion poll on Telangana’s state emblem. The television channel gave 10 choices to choose from saying the majority opinion would finalise the emblem.
The “poll” sparked questions on the internet. Why change the emblem? Why Big TV, a privately owned television channel, is holding the survey?
Ever since coming to power in Telangana, the Congress has been trying to erase BRS’s role in the formation of a separate state. It answered the question of changing the emblem.
Big TV is owned by Pravasa Media LLP, a company established in 2021. Its Managing Director and Chairperson is Vijay Kanth Reddy Vennam.
తెలంగాణ ప్రభుత్వం రెడీ చేసిన కొత్త లోగోలు
ప్రజాభిప్రాయం మేరకు లోగో ఎంపిక
మీ ఓటు దేనికో ఆ లోగోను లైక్ చేయండి#Telanganagovernment #newlogos #BigTV
— BIG TV Breaking News (@bigtvtelugu) October 1, 2024
If the name seems familiar, it could be because he is part of the top brass of at least six other companies including Winspire Campaigns Private Limited. It could be because he is the brother of TPCC general secretary Sreekanth Reddy Vennam.
Big TV’s big push for a change in state emblem has already drawn criticism. Konatham Dileep, former director of Digital Media of Telangana, asked if the government was outsourcing its duties to the channel.
Incidentally, the samples of emblems that Big TV released were bathed in colours related to the Congress, white, blue, and green.
The Congress, after assuming power in December 2023, has been renaming several schemes floated by the previous BRS government. Harithaharam, an afforestation drive, became Vana Vajra Mahotsavam. Rythu Bandhu, the government-given capital for agriculture, became Rythu Bharosa.
Similarly, despite announcing that the government would distribute the remaining 40,000 two-BHK flats built under the BRS regime, it feigned ignorance until it had to compensate those displaced by the Musi Riverfront Development Project.
The Congress regime also discontinued the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme pioneered by the earlier government. Although the scheme was partially relaunched in August 2024, the partnership with ISCKON drew more criticism than praise.
However, given the BRS’s stature of forming the first government in nascent Telangana, separating the state’s identity from the party can get tricky.
