MK Venu, currently the Founding Editor of the leftist propaganda website ‘The Wire’, has issued a ‘warning’ to bureaucrats and government agencies, suggesting that BJP will lose the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and a government sympathetic to his ilk will come back to power (that will teach a lesson to bureaucrats he does not like).
Venu made this conclusion and issued the virtual threat at a time BJP appeared set to lose by-polls in Uttar Pradesh, though counting of votes was not over by then. Venu calls himself an independent journalist.
He unilaterally declared some investigating agencies ‘partisan’ and issued a warning to them, asking them to ‘start behaving’ – ominously similar to the threat Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, had reportedly issued to the CBI officers earlier:
BJP’ s loss in UP by- elections should send a strong signal to partisan members of investigative agencies and bureaucracy to start behaving!
— M K Venu (@mkvenu1) March 14, 2018
Although he didn’t specify what ‘partisan’ investigations he was referring to, it is believed that he could be referring to the investigations into corruption cases involving the Chidambarams, as well as cases against his own fraternity such as money laundering and tax evasion cases against NDTV promoters.
Interestingly, The Wire has been on a mission to downplay roles of the Chidambarams in various corruption cases. Their latest attempt was to justify a decision taken by P Chidambaram that he took as the Union Finance Minister on the day 2014 Lok Sabha election results were announced and it was known that Congress is losing. The decision is believed to be one of the reasons why scams like PNB-Nirav Modi one were enabled.
The ‘warning’ issued by MK Venu was criticised by many on the social media:
Off hand I don’t know of any other country where journalists threaten investigative agencies based on election results. What the msg below says – better do what we say or 2019 me dekh lenge … https://t.co/elivciPvnZ
— mayurwrites (@freentglty) March 14, 2018
Threat and not even veiled.
Expected from Radia journalists.
He has too much skin in the game to contain the joy. And this is after 2 seats. If 2019 goes their way, it wont be limited to threats. https://t.co/4kYncnlxPV— Pratyasha Rath (@pratyasharath) March 14, 2018
Goons of the ‘D’ (Dynasty) Gang in full threatening mode.. pic.twitter.com/UJsIq3MfzJ
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) March 14, 2018
This is not for the first time when MK Venu is in news for wrong reasons. Earlier, Venu and his partner at ‘The Wire’, Siddharth Varadarajan, had to face embarrassment when it was alleged that they were paid a hefty amount of taxpayers’ money for doing a handful of shows by the Rajya Sabha TV, a news channel then led by the former Vice President of India and Congress leader Hamid Ansari. The Wire has hired some former Rajya Sabha TV employees, like anchor Arfa Khanum, after Ansari’s term ended and BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu became the new Vice President.
MK Venu had also featured in Radia tapes controversy back in 2010, where he is heard requesting corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to introduce a journalist named ‘Rohini Singh’ to her (lobbyist’s) circle (of politicians, businessmen, lobbyists, etc.). Radia was believed to be using journalists as brokers for securing favourable deals for her corporate clients from the UPA government. A journalist named ‘Rohini Singh’ is currently working with The Wire as well.
