The Congress on Saturday defended its decision to boycott 14 news anchors saying that the Opposition parties were not boycotting or banning anyone, rather it was carrying out a “non-cooperation movement”.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and senior party leader Pawan Khera, ahead of the CWC meeting scheduled in Hyderabad, said, “We have not banned, boycotted or blacklisted anyone. This is a non-cooperation movement.”
“We will not cooperate with anybody spreading hatred in the society. We are not stopping them from spreading hatred. You want to spread hatred, go ahead and do it, you have the freedom to do it. We also have our freedom not to be partners in that crime.
They are not our enemies. We do not hate any of our friends in the media. They may have their compulsions. Nothing is permanent, if tomorrow they realise that what they were doing is not good for India, for society, we will again start attending their shows,” he added.
In an unprecedented move, the INDIA bloc, a grouping of 28 Opposition political parties that will take on the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections, released a list of 14 TV news anchors, accusing them of conducting “hate-filled” news debates.
The bloc maintained that they “will not send their representatives” on shows featuring the following anchors: Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan and Anand Narasimhan of News 18; Chitra Tripathi and Sudhir Chaudhary of Aaj Tak; Gaurav Sawant and Shiv Aroor of India Today; Prachi Parashar of India TV; Arnab Goswami of Republic Bharat; Rubika Liyaquat of Bharat 24; Navika Kumar and Sushant Sinha of Times Now Navbharat; Aditi Tyagi of Bharat Express; and Ashok Shrivastav of DD News.
The decision sparked a massive political row, with the BJP terming it as an “Emergency era mindset”. The News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) accused the INDIA bloc of “gagging the media”.
Meanwhile, the first CWC meeting, after the INDIA bloc was formed and Mallikarjun Kharge took over as the president, will start from 2:30 PM today in Hyderabad, a rare shift from New Delhi. This comes in the backdrop of seat-sharing talks between the INDIA bloc parties for the Lok Sabha elections. On the agenda of the CWC meet is strategy for the upcoming five states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram – elections, as well as the Lok Sabha elections of 2024.