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The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has reacted to a recent incident in which party supporters disrupted a stand-up comedy show in Bengaluru, demanding an apology from Hyderabad-based comic Sarat Uday for jokes he made on Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his son, Minister Nara Lokesh, two years ago.
TDP Andhra Pradesh president Palla Srinivasa Rao issued a statement on April 27, saying the party condemns the incident that occurred at Sarat’s show at the comedy club Ministry of Comedy in Koramangala on Saturday, April 25. However, he urged party workers to pursue legal action against stand-up comedians instead.
“Some stand-up comedians are jeopardising social harmony for the sake of cheap publicity. Legal action must be pursued against them. One must not take the law into one's own hands. Party workers must not act in contravention of the party's principles,” Srinivasa Rao said.
The incident in Bengaluru happened less than two weeks after two Telugu stand-up comedians, Anudeep Katikala and Rafiq, were arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police for making jokes about Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. The police action followed abuse on social media and calls for legal action by supporters of Pawan Kalyan and his Jana Sena Party.
Tacitly endorsing police action against stand-up comedians making jokes on leaders of the ruling coalition, the TDP president said, “It is utterly inexcusable that some individuals, driven by a craze for overnight fame and under the guise of freedom of expression, crack jokes that undermine the well-being of society. Under the guise of being stand-up comedians, some individuals are acting irresponsibly by disparaging political leaders or institutions—thereby creating tensions—solely for the sake of garnering views and engaging in self-promotion. Comedy is meant to provide entertainment, not to incite hatred. Failure to adhere to this principle will result in facing legal action as mandated by the Constitution.”
The TDP state president said that party workers must fight “democratically through legal channels.”
“Acting out of impulse risks diverting attention from the core issue and sending a detrimental message to society. I caution the party cadre against falling into the traps set by such controversial individuals and thereby tarnishing the party's reputation. If something is deemed objectionable, the only appropriate course of action is to teach them a lesson through legal means,” he said.
Sarat Uday, a Hyderabad-based comic, was performing a solo stand-up show in Bengaluru on April 25, when a few self-proclaimed TDP supporters got up from their seats, walked on to the stage, and intimidated and abused the comic while demanding an apology addressed to Lokesh, Naidu, and TDP cadres. They also raised slogans of ‘Jai Telugu Desam Party’, and insisted that Sarat also say ‘Jai TDP’, ‘Jai Lokesh Anna’, and ‘Jai Chandrababu Naidu’, which the comedian refused to do.
Visuals from the incident also showed them threatening Sarat, saying this was his “final warning” and asking him to be “careful” and not make such jokes again.
The commotion was over a video Sarat had uploaded to his YouTube channel over a year ago in December 2024. Titled “Andhra Politics,” the video contained jokes on leaders from all major political parties in the state, including YSRCP, Jana Sena Party, and TDP. Sarat had already issued an apology soon after, as the jokes triggered outrage and abuse from supporters of Jana Sena and TDP.
The hecklers who disrupted the Bengaluru show said they were upset over Sarat referencing the 2003 assassination attempt on Naidu by Maoists, and the controversy over the alleged adulteration of the ghee used in the Tirupati laddu prasadam.