Marking April Fool's Day, Deccan Chronicle on Thursday published a news story about the TDP merging itself with the BJP. It's only towards the end of the deliberate fake news that the reader is alerted about today's date.

The joke has not landed well with Nara Lokesh. The TDP leader today tore into the newspaper in general and Jaganmohan Reddy in particular. Lokesh alleged that the Chief Minister himself is behind the publication of the fake news story.

Lokesh described the English-language daily as a 'diwaala' newspaper and said that its owner, Venkatrami Reddy, was born as a shameless person. He also criticized DC's Editor-in-Chief Sriram Karri, saying that he should have had journalistic ethics.

"Instead of writing foolish April Fool's stories of this sort, will you talk about how the employees of DC have not been paid salaries? Do you have the guts to write about the injustice meted out to the staff of Andhra Bhoomi?" Nara Lokesh asked of Karri.