NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday expressed its strong disapproval of the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’s (INDIA) decision to blacklist 14 news anchors. Following the release of the list of 14 news anchors marked for a boycott by INDIA bloc member parties, the ruling BJP issued a press release denouncing the Opposition alliance as the “Ghamandiya” (arrogant) alliance and strongly condemning their actions against certain journalists.
Anil Baluni, the national media head of the BJP, stated in the press release, “By making such a highly regrettable decision, the ‘Ghamandiya’ alliance has once again unveiled its highly repressive, dictatorial, and negative mindset. The Bharatiya Janata Party vehemently criticizes the regrettable move taken by the I.N.D.I Alliance.”
The statement emphasized the BJP’s strong opposition to such a “derogatory mindset that obstructs freedom of expression.” Drawing parallels with press censorship during the emergency era, the BJP’s statement noted, “The actions of political parties within the ‘Ghamandiya’ alliance, boycotting certain journalists, harken back to the repressive Emergency period when the media was stifled and silenced. Today, the ‘Ghamandiya’ alliance seems to operate with the same Emergency-era mentality and hostility towards the media.”
“The decision taken by the INDI Alliance parties involved in the arrogant alliance to boycott and threaten journalists is highly condemnable. This reflects their oppressive and dictatorial thinking. BJP strongly condemns this poor mentality of the Alliance”, tweets Anil Baluni,… pic.twitter.com/b9ni1VrYzL
— ANI (@ANI) September 14, 2023
The statement argued that the I.N.D.I. alliance’s direct threats against the media resemble an attempt to muzzle the truth and indicate the alliance’s lack of courage to confront the facts. Furthermore, it insinuated that external pressure might be driving the “Ghamandiya” alliance to undermine Indian media’s freedom of expression.
The statement affirmed that democracy prevails in the country, and no one should be allowed to suppress or curtail media freedom and rights.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party appeals to all media organizations and dedicated, honest journalists to vehemently oppose political parties with such derogatory ideologies and continue fulfilling their responsibilities to the nation and our society without fear or favour. The BJP also encourages all journalists to resist the dictatorial approach of the ‘Ghamandiya’ alliance and uphold the Indian ethos and principles deeply embedded in our democratic system.”
Earlier today, the I.N.D.I. Alliance unveiled a list of 14 anchors, declaring that their alliance partners would not participate in programs hosted by them. The journalists affected by the alliance’s boycott 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 senior Congress leader Pawan Khera.
This move followed the Coordination Committee of the I.N.D.I A Bloc’s decision in its initial meeting on September 13 to identify news anchors for a boycott by partner parties.
While the alliance has opted to boycott journalists and has already named the individuals on their blacklist, they have yet to make headway on the crucial issue of seat allocation. The 28-party alliance has not initiated concrete discussions on seat sharing for the upcoming elections, with parties like AAP and Congress asserting that they will not share seats in Punjab and Delhi. Alliance leaders have stated that seat allocation will be negotiated at the state level.
