The Bharatiya Janata Party has strongly condemned the decision of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance to boycott 14 news anchors. In a press release after the I.N.D.I.A. released the names of 14 anchors to be boycotted by its member parties, BJP called the alliance ‘Ghamandiya’ (arrogant) alliance, and said that it strongly criticises and condemns the decision of the opposition alliance for boycotting some journalists and issuing threats to them.
The press release issued by BJP’s national media head Anil Baluni said, “By taking such a highly deplorable decision, the “ghamandiya” alliance has once again revealed its highly repressive, dictatorial and negative mindset. The Bharatiya Janata Party severely criticises the unfortunate step of the I.N.D.I Alliance.”
It said that BJP severely opposes such “derogatory mentality which hinders freedom of expression”. Comparing the decision with press censorship during the emergency, the statement by BJP said, “The decision of political parties which are part of the “ghamandiya” alliance to boycott some journalists shows their mentality of the time of repressive Emergency, We have all seen that in a similar manner how the media was stifled and gagged during Emergency. Today also the “ghamandiya” alliance is working with the same mindset of Emergency and vengeance against the media.”
I.N.D.I Alliance giving direct threat to the media is like gagging the media for speaking the truth.
— BJP (@BJP4India) September 14, 2023
This also shows that the 'ghamandiya' alliance has no courage to face the truth.
The Bharatiya Janata Party severely criticises the unfortunate step of the I.N.D.I Alliance. pic.twitter.com/pfijp5Nlf0
It added that I.N.D.I Alliance giving direct threat to the media is like gagging the media for speaking the truth. This also shows that the “ghamandiya” alliance has no courage to face the truth. It also indicates that the “ghamandiya* alliance is working under some external pressure to hurt Indian media’s freedom of expression.
The statement adds that “there is democracy in the country, and no one will be allowed to suppress or curtail the freedom and rights of the media.”
It said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party appeals to all the media organisations and all the dedicated and honest journalists to vehemently oppose political parties with such highly derogatory thinking and keep performing their duties towards the nation and our society without any fear or favour. The BJP also urges all journalists to oppose such dictatorial attitude of the “ghamandiya” alliance and continue doing their duties by following the Indian ethos and principles strongly laid in our democratic system.”
Earlier today, I.N.D.I. Alliance released a list of 14 anchors, saying that their alliance partners will not participate in programs hosted by them. The anchors boycotted by the alliance are Aditi Tyagi of Bharat Express, Aman Chopra of News 18, Amish Devgan of News 18, Anand Narasimhan of News 18, Arnab Goswami of Republic, Ashok Shrivastav of DD News, Chitra Tripathi of Aaj Tak, Gaurav Sawant of India Today, Navika Kumar of Times Now, Prachi Parashar of India TV, Rubika Liaquat of Bharat 24, Shiv Aroor of India Today, Sudhir Chaudhary of Aaj Tak, and Sushant Sinha. The list was released by Congress leader Pawan Khera.
This came after the Coordination Committee of the I.N.D.I Alliance decided in its first meeting on 13 September to select names of anchors to be boycotted by the partner parties.
While the alliance has decided to boycott journalist and already came up with a list, they are yet to make in progress into the important question of seat sharing. The 28-party alliance is yet to commence any concrete discussion on seat sharing for the upcoming polls, with parties like AAP and Congress saying that they will not share seats in Punjab and Delhi. The alliance leaders have said that seat sharing will be negotiated at the state level.
