The Wire journalist Rohini Singh today slammed news agency ANI for covering a story that was first reported by NDTV. The story pertained to the internal rift within the Congress party, with Rahul Gandhi allegedly accusing the signatories of the dissent letter of ‘colluding with the BJP’.
Rohini mounted an attack against the ANI after some sources reported that Rahul’s alleged statement was false and he had said no such thing. This report about the Gandhi scion alleging senior party members of collusion with the rival party was first reported by NDTV and was later picked up by the ANI.
NDTV kare toh Good Point
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) August 24, 2020
ANI kare toh misleading sources pic.twitter.com/vrbzUjJ6p1
However, the Wire journalist, best known for her stunning whataboutery on social media websites, decided to vent her spleen against the ANI and not against NDTV, who originally reported the internal turmoil within the Congress party.
“So @INCIndia strongly denies @RahulGandhi accused the letter writers of being in cahoots with the BJP. Says such words weren’t spoken at all at the CWC. Seems ‘sources’ misled ANI as usual when it comes to the Congress,” Singh tweeted in a sly attack against the ANI.
Later, when Nidhi Razdan, the former employee of the NDTV reminded Singh that NDTV was the first one to break the story and questioned why the Congress did not deny resignation offered by Azad, the Wire journalist quickly took a u-turn, praising the pertinent point raised by the former NDTV anchor.
While Singh displayed an unusual alacrity in censoring ANI for the report about the dispute within the Congress party, she did not show the same promptness on slamming the NDTV when she was informed that it was the NDTV who had first broken the story about the imbroglio within the Congress party.
Rohini Singh defended herself saying Kapil Sibal was misled by ANI’s sources to tweet against Rahul Gandhi
Furthermore, when Social Media leader of Aam Aadmi Party, Ankit Lal questioned Ms Singh over her tweet accusing the ANI of publishing a misleading report by citing the tweet posted by Kapil Sibal, Singh brazened out her stand, stating Sibal was, perhaps, misled by ANI’s sources, as claimed by Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
Rohini went on to vent her anger on ANI, while it was NDTV which had broken the ‘news’ first.
When Nidhi Razdan clarified that it was NDTV which had broken the ‘news’ first, Rohini immediately changed her stance. When a twitter user pointed it out and stated that NDTV also had the story and many, including Rohini herself had believed it, she again stated that she had no reason to doubt her colleagues.
Kapil Sibal had earlier posted a tweet, expressing his anguish over the allegations of collusion with the BJP levelled against him by the former Congress President Rahul Gandhi. However, he later pulled down the tweet, and posted a new tweet, stating that he was personally informed by Gandhi that he never said what was being attributed to him in the media.
ANI’s Smita Prakash reacts
ANI’s Smita Prakash, however, gave a ‘befitting reply’ to some of the journalists who were blaming ANI for the Congress communication fiasco.
Taking a dig at a certain journalist known for a certain 2bhk apartment, Smita Prakash said the concerned person should be made the Congress president as nobody else is more concerned about the party.
2 🏡 for Congress president. Nobody’s heart bleeds more for party.
— Smita Prakash (@smitaprakash) August 24, 2020
Earlier, Prakash had shared that Tehseen Poonawalla had also credited ANI for the particular issue while appearing for an NDTV news show.
