HYDERABAD: The Rajasekhara Reddy Government in Andhra Pradesh beat a hasty retreat on Friday on the controversial order against the print and electronic media by cancelling the GO within 12 hours after it came to light.

Anticipating an attack from the Opposition and the media, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy summoned Chief Secretary J. Hari Narayan and got him to issue a fresh order before office hours cancelling GO Rt. No. 938. The short-lived GO sought to empower the Special Commissioner, Information and Public Relations, to appoint Special Public Prosecutors to file defamation cases against publishers and editors for carrying "baseless and defamatory" reports.

The Chief Minister announced annulment of the order in the Assembly after a united Opposition criticised him for "re-creating the dark days of Emergency in Andhra Pradesh." Dr. Reddy took the line that he was unaware of the Chief Secretary's order until Thursday night when he found that it contained "some embarrassing provisions" and issued immediate instructions to withdraw it.

The controversy helped opposition parties to reinforce their unity.

Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam) demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister on the ground that he had violated the oath he took under the Constitution by misleading the House through his claim that he had no knowledge of the GO. Other parties said the Chief Minister's statement was a clear pointer that he had lost control of the administration.

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